For the first time, a series of pre-election town hall debates about LGBT issues will be held across Canada.

The town halls are being held after a pre-election statement, signed by 216 Canadian LGBT organizations, released last week called upon all major Canadian political parties to protect and support LGBT rights and to include LGBT communities in the development of federal public policies and initiatives.

Tomorrow (October 8), town halls will be held in Toronto, Edmonton, and Vancouver.

In Vancouver, it will be held from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Junction (1138 Davie Street), with doors opening at 6 p.m. and a post-debate social event.

Vancouver Centre representatives who have been invited include Hedy Fry (Liberals), David Cavey (Conservatives), Breen Ouelette (NDP), and Jesse Brown (Green Party).

The Vancouver event is being presented with local partners Qmunity, Rainbow Refugee, LOUD Business, LOUD Scholarship Foundation, Trikone Vancouver, Sher Vancouver, McLaren Housing Society, the and Pacific AIDS Network. Full details about the Vancouver event is available on a Facebook event webpage.  

Town halls will also be held in Ottawa (October 9) and Montreal (October 15).

Representatives from all major parties have been confirmed to be attending the debates, including the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, and Green Party (the Bloc Québécois will attend the debate in Montreal).

This series is being organized by a consortium of nine national and regional LGBT organizations, including Vancouver’s Community-Based Research Centre, the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, and more.