Monday, April 14, 2025

WATCH LIVE!

All-candidates meeting in Burlington cancelled due to expected PPC protest

Posted:April 14, 2025 | 4:24 PM
By:Michael To

Updated: 14 April 2025

Green Kyle Hutton (top left), NDP Michael Beauchemin (top right), Liberal Karina Gould (bottom left), and Conservative Emily Brown (bottom right) are running for Burlington MP in the 2025 Canada election.

An all-candidates meeting that was to be held at Port Nelson United Church in Burlington Monday evening has been cancelled due to a planned protest next to the property.

The church posted on X around 3:15 p.m., that the steering committee decided to call off the meeting due to a protest that was planned to arrive and “disrupt the meeting in some way.”

The post also reads that a convoy would start in Hamilton and arrive at the Burlington church.

In the interest of safety, the steering committee has decided to cancel tonight’s planned candidates meeting.
A protest has been planned, in the form of a convoy starting in Hamilton and arriving at Port Nelson Church in Burlington and likely to disrupt the meeting in some way. pic.twitter.com/d2N72Bj5pt

— Port Nelson United Church (@PortNelsonUC) April 14, 2025

Burlington MP and Liberal candidate Karina Gould posted on X that she was very disappointed that the meeting was cancelled because of the “intimidating behaviour from one campaign.”

It is very disappointing that due to the intimidating behaviour from one campaign in Burlington, the Port Nelson Church had to make the difficult decision to cancel tonight’s All Candidates Meeting.

I am very sorry that we will not have the chance to gather as candidates to… https://t.co/tC0H1DiFbF

— Karina Gould (@karinagould) April 14, 2025

Conservative MP candidate Emily Brown also posted on X, saying that, “intimidating the church and the surrounding neighbourhood, as done by another candidate, is completely unacceptable.”

I am disappointed to hear that the debate for this evening at Port Nelson United Church has been canceled — this was a vital forum to hold the Liberal government to account for their failed policies and debate important issues facing Burlington constituents. Intimidating the… https://t.co/XjbzP7XGOv

— EmilyBrownforBurlington (@emilyabrown2025) April 14, 2025

Kyle Hutton, MP candidate for the Green Party, wrote in a statement to CHCH News that he was disappointed that the debate was called off, but does not fault the organizers for cancelling the event.

“The convoy was clearly meant to disrupt and do so with the help of folks from way outside the Burlington community, and now we’ve lost what was potentially the only local debate in our riding,” said Hutton.

He further said it was “shameful conduct.”

Michael Beauchemin, MP candidate for the NDP, wrote in a statement to CHCH News that he was excited for the chance to speak directly with voters and the other candidates at the meeting.

“As we move into the last few weeks of this campaign, I look forward to other opportunities to connect with voters and talk about why New Democrats like me are the right choice to fight for Canadian values,” said Beauchemin.