MEDIA ADVISORY: REMINDER: Media Accreditation and Pool Feed Access For Maclean's National Leaders Debate with Harper, Mulcair, Trudeau, and May

**Media Must RSVP by Thursday, Aug. 6 at Noon ET to receive accreditation to enter media pit and/or City/OMNI Television Building**

TORONTO, Aug. 5, 2015 /CNW/ - On Thursday, Aug. 6 from 8 to 10 p.m. ET, Paul Wells, political editor of Maclean's, will moderate the Maclean's National Leaders Debate – the first televised debate ahead of this year's federal election, and the only one at this time with the confirmed four national party leaders: Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada; Thomas Mulcair, leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada; Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada; and Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada. The debate will take place at the City/OMNI Television studios at 33 Dundas St. E. in Toronto.  Please see below for details on media accreditation, pool feed availability, and on-site press opportunities.

NOTE: Wireless is not permitted in the City/OMNI Television studio, and there is no RF or live transmission use allowed in the City/OMNI Television building

4 to 6 p.m. ET - MEDIA CHECK-IN & ACCREDITATION

• Option #1 – Enter City/OMNI Television building and set up in media room. Will be able to watch debate on TV. Once in media room, there are no in/out privileges of building until debate is finished.
• Option #2 – Stand in media pits outside City/OMNI Television building to cover leader arrivals. No in/out privileges of media pits until all leaders have arrived.
• Option #3 – Media covering the scrum only must receive accreditation prior to 6 p.m. ET; can proceed to media room prior to 6 p.m. ET or from 7:10-7:20 p.m. ET.

6:40 to 6:55 p.m. - LEADER ARRIVALS

• Media are not permitted to enter the building during this time.

7:10 to 7:20 p.m. ET – FINAL ENTRY INTO BUILDING             

• Accredited media, who were stationed in the media pits, can enter building and proceed to media room. Once in media room, there are no in/out privileges of building until debate is finished.
• There is no entry into the building after 7:20 p.m. ET.

8 to 10 p.m. MACLEAN'S NATIONAL LEADERS DEBATE

10:15 to 10:40 p.m. MEDIA SCRUM IN STUDIO

For Media On-Site:

• Media are required to present proper identification at check-in for entry into outdoor media pits and City/OMNI Television building
• Debate will take place in a closed studio. Media are invited to watch a live video feed in English in a separate media room. French translation provided through an audio distribution box. The debate will also be livestreamed on CPAC.ca in French, and on OMNITV.ca in Mandarin, Cantonese, Italian, and Punjabi. Media are asked to bring their own devices and headphones.
• Seating in the media room is granted on a first-come, first-serve basis. Light refreshments to be provided.
• Due to limited space, Maclean's, Canadian Press and Reuters pool photographers will be permitted into the studio with limited access to take photos during the debate. Maclean's photos will be shared on the wire and by Rogers Communications Team on request. There will be no video cameras allowed into the studio during the debate.
• Plug-ins will be available for audio recording of debate in English and in French in the media room.
• Plug-ins will be available for audio recording of scrum (English only).
• Scrum with candidates immediately following the debate. **Wireless is not permitted in the studio, and there is no RF or live transmission use allowed in the City/OMNI Television building**
• HD video feed of the full debate will be available at Toronto and Ottawa TOC for a fee of $750 for news access only (3 minutes). Those purchasing news access will also receive a live feed of the leaders arrivals and the scrum with no restrictions.

SOURCE Maclean's

For media accreditation and/or purchasing video feed for news access only, please contact Charmaine Khan at [email protected] / 416.277.0450 or Terry Guillon at [email protected] / 613.992.4511