The Barrie Chamber of Commerce announced Tuesday morning that it has cancelled its upcoming all-candidates debates for the city's two federal ridings.
The debates were scheduled to take place Wednesday night, one for each of Barrie-Innisfil and Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte.
"With such a short election period, in an already challenging year for hosting events, and despite efforts made to safely include and accommodate all candidates in a hybrid format, there was no opportunity to address concerns the candidates apparently had with our long-standing debate structure," the chamber said in a news release.
Chamber officials also thanked those who were prepared to take part.
"The Barrie chamber is very grateful to the partners and volunteers who were supporting this event, many of whom spent hours in preparation," the release added. "We appreciate your time and energy, and look forward to working with you on other initiatives in the future."
The Barrie chamber also encouraged all eligible voters to research their local candidates and be sure to vote, because "your voice is important to the future of our country."
The federal election will take place Sept. 20.
For more local coverage on the upcoming election, visit our CanadaVotes2021 page.
