A small fraction of voters took advantage of the opportunity to meet face-to-face on Wednesday with all six candidates running to represent the Red Deer riding in the federal election.
A Meet and Greet, held at Westerner Park and organized by the Red Deer District Chamber, gave voters a chance to speak directly with candidates, rather than attend a traditional forum where candidates introduce themselves to the audience, comment on issues and answer questions from behind a microphone.
During the first hour of the two-hour event, about 60 people dropped by, with small groups sticking close to the tables set up for Conservative Party of Canada candidate Burton Bailey and Liberal Party of Canada candidate Ayaz Bangash.
However, some people wandered around the room to speak with all the candidates, which also included Elias Assefa with the New Democratic Party, Kyla Courte of the People’s Party of Canada, Ashley MacDonald with the Green Party of Canada, and Brandon Pringle with the Christian Heritage Party of Canada.
A student who just finished his second year at Red Deer Polytechnic said he came out to the event because he was still unsure where to park his vote.
"I haven't decided and I want to talk to all the candidates to see what they're like as people and how they're going to represent us as citizens," said the student who would be casting his first ballot in a federal election.
He said some people his age are apathetic about voting, believing it doesn't matter. But he said that's wrong and overall many do plan to vote.
Long-time Conservative supporter Jim Dick said this election is like nothing that Canadians have ever seen before — it's about Canadians' identity and the future of the country.
"That guy down south, he means to try and bring Canada to its knees and then become his 51st state. He really truly believes that," Dick said about U.S. President Donald Trump.
"We should have been doing things for ourselves 20 years ago but we didn't, so now we have to stand up and be strong."
Another voter who said he was raised Conservative, was leaning towards the Liberals, because of the impact that Trump could have on the economy, jobs and the cost of living.
"Whatever he ends up doing is going to potentially impact all of those things. I think (Liberal Leader Mark Carney) is going to be the best one to go head-to-head with him," said the voter, adding he could be wrong.
"It will be interesting to see how all the dust settles."
Don Allen, who described himself as non-partisan, said he supports the Liberals federally and issues like programs for the poor and health care are his top priorities.
"Balancing the budget is fine, but now is not the time with what is going on," Allen said.
But he expects the Conservatives will win in Red Deer.
"I think it will be blue, because it's always blue. I don't think there will be a change of any great significance. But I hope there will be a shift," said Allen, who intends to run as a candidate in the municipal election.
Not all attendees were happy with the Meet & Greet and would have preferred a traditional candidate forum.
"I was expecting the same set up so I'm not happy about this. There's too many issues for me to be sitting here reading," said a woman who was reading printouts of candidate information provided by the Red Deer District Chamber CEO to help voters.
The questions that the chamber asked candidates and their answers are available via a QR code posted on the Red Deer District Chamber's Facebook page.
Others were happy with the Meet & Greet format.
Chamber CEO Scott Robinson said people told him they appreciated the opportunity to speak directly with the candidates.
"People have a chance to get questions answered. In a forum, often they don't get that chance. You're just going to hear the party line," Robinson said.
"Obviously, we would have liked to see a bigger crowd here tonight, but it might have to do with the fact that advanced polls were held and people already voted."
He said it would have been nice to hold an event sooner, but most of the candidates were named just two weeks ago.
And as it turns out, voters had a chance to meet the candidates during a shortened election period when it would be difficult to knock on a lot of voters' doors, he added.
"I think the people who are here enjoyed it."
