EDITOR'S NOTE: The video component of this report inaccurately identifies one of the candidates, which is stated correctly in the copy below. Maxwell Groves is the Green Party candidate, while Joshua Chalhoub is running for New Blue.

At an "All Candidates Debate" in Cobourg, Ont., far-left candidates struggled to provide clear answers to key election questions. With only 27 attendees, the debate felt more like an echo chamber than a place to discuss differences.

David Piccini, Progressive Conservative MPP, apparently ignored the invitation. Ontario Party’s Florian Bors had a prior commitment, while New Blue’s Joshua Chalhoub faced a family emergency and submitted written responses.

The candidates present were Green Party's Maxwell Groves, who works in an IT capacity for the Ontario HIV Treatment Network Cohort Study; NDP candidate Bruce LePage, a retired school teacher now enjoying a pension; and Liberal candidate Dorothy Noronha, a high school teacher who expressed disappointment at sacrificing two years of her pension to enter politics.

The debate derailed after a question on school choice support posed by Rebel News, which was met with scoffing and deflection.

Noronha (Liberal) stated “no,” without elaborating further.

Groves (Green) spent half his response time thinking before deflecting, saying he wasn’t sure what to call Rebel News and wouldn’t consider it ‘news.’ This was met with applause from the audience.

He then claimed Rebel News "militarizes" young boys against women and minorities, which "breaks his heart" and "terrifies" him. Ironically, Groves had earlier complimented an attendee on her Grand Theft Auto sweater, a game centered around violent crime, and disagreed that such games negatively impact young boys.

LePage committed a “hell no” before stating that this would “splinter” education and inevitably destroy society. He claims school choice makes for an “uneducated” and “easily manipulated” populace, which the NDP would never allow because they “love children and public education,” which “makes a strong, good society.”

A question on managing urban sprawl and immigration's impact on rural communities led to more disruptions.

Two individuals – one with Noronha and the other with Groves – mocked the question from behind, interrupted, and couldn't contain their outburst. When Rebel News requested respectful discourse, LePage claimed he was being “fascist” taped. After a plea for maturity, responses were finally given.

Groves rambled about the preventability of the “international student crisis” and claimed immigration will continue due to “climate catastrophes,” proceeding to blame billionaires for social division.

LePage asserted that “without immigration, this country will die,” emphasizing that “we are all immigrants.”

Noronha said that immigration is a federal issue, providing no solutions for Ontario's responsibility in managing nearly half of the country's immigration targets.

Ontarians head to the polls on February 27 to decide who will lead the province through tumultuous socio-political times.

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