Of the eight registered candidates in the riding, only Liberal candidate Brendan Knight, NDP candidate Michael O’Brien and Green Party candidate Lisa Olsen attended the Candidates Debate organized by the Zonta Club of Stratford and CFUW Stratford. Absent were Conservative incumbent Randy Pettapiece , Libertarian Scott Marshall, Paul McKendrick of the Consensus Ontario party, Rob Smeenk of the Freedom Party of Ontario and Andrew Stanton of the Alliance party. Charlene Gordon moderated the debate.