Élections 2015 - le grand débat - September 24, 2015 (8-10 p.m. ET) - Maison de Radio-Canada

OTTAWA, September 21, 2015 /CNW/ - Canada's largest broadcast partnership – Radio-Canada, La Presse, Télé-Québec, CBC News, CTV News and Global News – announce details about the 2015 French-language leaders' debate, to be held in Radio-Canada's Montreal studios on Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 8 p.m. (ET).

As previously announced, Anne-Marie Dussault, well known for her experience hosting leaders' debates, will moderate the debate with questions to be posed by Patrice Roy, a Radio-Canada anchor, and Yves Boisvert, a columnist from La Presse.

The broadcast partners drew the customary lots with party representatives in attendance. Podium positions, the order in which each leader answers questions, the order of closing remarks and other aspects of the proceedings are determined by random draw to ensure that no preference is given to any political party.

The leaders will be positioned as follows, from left to right:

Gilles Duceppe, Stephen Harper, Tom Mulcair, Elizabeth May and Justin Trudeau.

Élections 2015 – le grand débat is a two-hour event. It will comprise five segments each covering a specific theme. Each segment will begin with one of the leaders responding to a journalist's question. A second leader will then be allowed a rebuttal before the question is submitted to an open debate. Between each segment, rapid-fire questions on issues not necessarily covered by the five themes will be put to each leader. No questions will be seen by the parties in advance.

In each segment, cross-discussion among the leaders, as well as their answers to the rapid-fire questions, will be presented in the following order:

Theme 1: First leader to respond: T. Mulcair /Opening rebuttal followed by open debate: E. May

Rapid-fire question: J. Trudeau, T. Mulcair, G. Duceppe, E. May and S. Harper

Theme 2: First leader to respond: G. Duceppe /Opening rebuttal followed by open debate: S. Harper

Rapid-fire question: E. May, J. Trudeau, T. Mulcair, S. Harper and G. Duceppe

Theme 3: First leader to respond: E. May /Opening rebuttal followed by open debate: J. Trudeau

Rapid-fire question: S. Harper, E. May, J. Trudeau, G. Duceppe, T. Mulcair

Theme 4: First leader to respond: S. Harper /Opening rebuttal followed by open debate: T. Mulcair

Rapid-fire question: G. Duceppe, S. Harper, E. May, T. Mulcair and J. Trudeau

Theme 5: First leader to respond: J. Trudeau /Opening rebuttal followed by open debate: G. Duceppe

Rapid-fire question: T. Mulcair, G. Duceppe, S. Harper, J. Trudeau and E. May

Closing statements will be presented in the following order:

S. Harper, J. Trudeau, T. Mulcair, E. May and G. Duceppe

How to watch the debate

Élections 2015 – le grand débat will be broadcast in French across the country from 8 to 10 p.m. by ICI Radio-Canada Télé, ICI RDI, ICI Radio-Canada.ca, facebook.com/ICIRadioCanada, Télé-Québec and lapresse.ca. It will also air in English via simultaneous translation on CBC News Network, CTV News Channel, CPAC – as well as their respective websites – Globalnews.ca, and on YouTube Canada: Election 2015. Canadians can also add their voice to the conversation by using the hastag #debatdeschefs.

About the broadcast partnership

Canada's largest broadcast partnership – Radio-Canada, La Presse, Télé-Québec, CBC News, CTV News and Global News – pool their resources to ensure that the largest number of Canadians have access to leaders' debates during the height of the election campaign so they can make an informed decision about their political choices at the polls. Together with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Vine, Google, YouTube, and CPAC, the networks' 2015 televised debates will reach millions of Canadians across the country and abroad, on multiple platforms, in both English and French.

SOURCE Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Liliane Lê, Spokesperson, 2015 Leaders' Debates, Tel: [phone], [email protected]