Bob Doiron will now attend all-candidates forum

All candidates will now be in attendance for an all-candidates forum in District 11: Charlottetown-ParkdaleThursday.

Liberal candidate Bob Doiron had cancelled his attendance atDistrict 11 on Tap last week after saying he had a prior commitment and wouldn't be able to attend.

On Tuesday he said he managed to change his schedule, and will be able to be at the event.

"When this event came up we had some things booked, so what we did is we juggled our calendar around a little bit and we definitely will be there," Doiron said.

"I want to introduce myself, and have a face to face conversation I like to meet the young voters, I like to answer the questions the best I can."

Young Voters of P.E.I. said it was happy to learn Doiron would be attending.

"We're really excited that we'll be able to host an all-candidates forum, after all," said group co-founder Jesse Hitchcock.

"We're happy to be able to provide an opportunity to hear from and get to know all candidates in the District 11 campaign, and are encouraged to see that all candidates and parties are prioritizing hearing from P.E.I.'s young people."

Pressure from other candidates to attend

When Doiron cancelled, PC candidate Melissa Hilton and Green candidate Hannah Bell both publicly called on him to attend.

"No one seeking the trust of voters should be afraid to face the people you want to represent," said Hilton in a Facebook post.

"I see debate participation as a requirement for anyone seeking election," Bell said in a news release. "If we aren't willing to be held accountable before being elected, how can we convince voters we will be after being elected?"

Doiron said his decision to attend wasn't connected to Hilton or Bell's statements.

"When other candidates speak out against me, I don't want to fuel the fire or anything like that," he said.

Voting on Nov. 27

Island Morning will be holding a roundtable discussion with all four candidates Thursday morning at 7:40 a.m. on CBC Radio One.

The all-candidates forum that evening will be held at Bar1911 (113 Longworth Avenue in Charlottetown) at 6:30 p.m.

The byelection will be held Nov. 27.

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