Expert advisory services for the evaluation of leaders’ debates

BACKGROUNDThe Commission, established by Order in Council (OIC) 2018-1322 P.C., has been mandated to organize two leaders’ debates for the 44th General Election – one in each official language. The Commission is guided by the pursuit of public interest and by the principles of independence, impartiality, credibility, democratic citizenship, civic education, inclusion and cost effectiveness.The Commission will work to make debates a more predictable, reliable and stable element of federal election campaigns. The Commission will ensure debates are accessible and will engage in public outreach with Canadians about why debates matter, and to inform them on where, when and how they can watch/listen to the debates.As part of its mandate, the Commission will undertake to evaluate the debates that it organizes and will present an evidence-based assessment of the debates as one component of a final Report o Parliament due no later than five months after election day for the 44th General Election. In particular, the Commission is mandated to:“conduct any necessary research or rely on any applicable research to ensure that the leaders’ debates are of high quality”; and“conduct an evidence-based assessment of the leaders’ debates that it has organized, including with respect to the number of persons to whom debates were accessible, the number of persons who actually accessed them and the knowledge of Canadians of political parties, their leaders and their positions.”See the attached ACAN document for more information.