A consortium of regional media outlets will host a series of political debates on September 28 and 29 with provincial candidates from the constituencies of Beauharnois, Huntingdon, Soulanges, and Vaudreuil.
These events will give locals the opportunity to hear the candidates’ positions on priority issues, to ensure voters are informed of their choices, and to encourage participation in the October 5 vote.
The debates will be moderated in French by professional journalists from four media outlets, including Chantal Bédard, the news director at Csur la télé/TVC Vaudreuil-Soulanges; Maxim Ouellet, a journalist with Néomédia; Mario Pitre and Yanick Michaud, the content director and journalist with the Journal Saint-François; and Sarah Rennie, the news editor at The Gleaner.
The Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Vaudreuil-Soulanges and the Beauharnois-Valleyfield-Haut-Saint-Laurent chamber of commerce, as well as the community development corporations of Vaudreuil-Soulanges (CDCVS), Beauharnois-Salaberry (CDCBHS), and Haut-Saint-Laurent (CDCHSL), are also joining the initiative as partners to highlight the region’s economic, social, and community issues.
The debates between the candidates will be live streamed on the media outlets’ websites and those of consortium partners starting at 5 p.m. on September 28, when the candidates from the Vaudreuil riding will square off.
This will be followed by the candidates in the Soulanges riding at 7:30 p.m. Debates between the candidates in the Huntingdon and Beauharnois ridings will take place the following day, on September 29, starting at 5 and 7:30 p.m.
The debate broadcast will be closed to viewers in person. However, the CDC du Haut-Saint-Laurent will be hosting a live screening of the debate between the Huntingdon candidates at the LBA dining hall at the Ormstown fairgrounds.
The CDCHSL is also preparing a series of video capsules featuring each of the candidates who are running to represent Huntingdon at the National Assembly. These will be released on the CDC’s website and platforms on September 21.
“What we want is for more people to be informed, so they can form their own opinion and go vote,” said CDCHSL director Marie Rachel Charlebois. The CDC now has a dedicated webpage with information in both English and French on the six Huntingdon candidates. “It is important to know our local candidates. The party they represent, but also the candidates. It is important that we know who may represent us,” she explained.
Advance registration to watch the debate from the LBA hall is mandatory. Those interested can register online through the CDCHSL’s website at cdchsl.org/en/2026-quebec-elections-huntingdon-riding.
The national French-language debates with the five leaders of the major parties will be televised, starting on September 15 on TVA Nouvelles, on September 16 with Noovo Info, and on September 23 at Radio-Canada. There will be no English-language leaders’ debate for this election.