A packed crowd inside the Lacombe Memorial Centre was treated to another round of federal election debates on Wednesday night, as four different parties had candidates in attendance vying for your vote.

They included Conservative incumbent Blaine Calkins, New Democrat Lauren Pezzella, Liberal Tiffany Rose, and representing the Peoples Party of Canada was Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson. 

The conversation remained fairly civil as this was not the first time the candidates have squared off, with the PPC candidate sparring with the Liberals and NDP over LGBTQ2+ protection and education issues, while Blaine Calkins pushed his party's plan to end and repeal bills related to oil tankers and pipelines. The NDP’s Lauren Pezzella frequently brought up the fact that at only 24, she doesn’t have the same luxuries that her parents did at her age, from job security to being able to afford a home one day. She painted a bleak future for the next generation if something isn’t done about issues such as housing, mental health, and the wage gap.

Conservative incumbent Blaine Calkins makes his opening statement.

One area where the candidates did find some common ground was on the issues of Alberta often feeling left out of federal politics due to Ontario and Quebec usually deciding the winner before the West is even done voting.

Joan from Lacombe County was in attendance and agreed that our federal election process needs to be overhauled to ensure more equal representation.

NDP candidate for Red Deer-Lacombe Lauren Pezzella.

“I’d like to see our votes ‘count’…because I mean, we vote because it’s a democracy but we know that it’s a done deal before it gets out to us (Alberta).”

When it comes to Joan’s impressions of the candidates, a couple she is hearing from for the first time, she found the Liberal and the NDP candidates to be “very kind people”, but wasn’t as impressed with the PPC candidate.

Liberal candidate for the Red Deer-Lacombe riding Tiffany Rose makes her opening statement.

“Honestly I didn’t realize they were so extreme….I mean, she talks about Canadian values, but like, she’s a little scary actually. Very extreme.”

Peoples Party of Canada candidate for the Red Deer-Lacombe riding Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson during her opening statement.

Dwayne from Red Deer was also in the crowd, and although he's already made up his mind on who to vote for, he was glad to see each candidate in person.

“Well I’m impressed by Blaine’s handling of the issues, knowledge of the issues. I mean, he’s a veteran (of politics), he’s been there, he’s done it, so I mean I’d be happy to have him represent us again because you could tell he was on top of the issues.”

Canada goes to the polls on October 21st, but advances voting starts this Friday and goes until Monday.

You can find all the information about the Federal Election 2019 and how to vote here: Federal Election 2019: what you need to know, right now.