NL

Coffin, Crosbie and Furey hashing out visions for N.L. in televised debate

Three party leaders are squaring off Wednesday night ahead of the Feb. 13 election.

First televised leaders' debate for Furey, while Coffin and Crosbie get rematch

Liberal Leader Andrew Furey, PC Leader Ches Crosbie and NDP Leader Alison Coffin will square off in a televised debate in the House of Assembly on Wednesday. (CBC)

After two weeks of Newfoundland and Labrador's major political players dropping breadcrumbs toward their vision for the province, party leaders are going head-to-head on hot topics Wednesday evening in a provincially televised leaders' debate.

Although no party has released a full platform to date — instead choosing to take a one-topic-per-day approach to revealing their campaign promises — NDP Leader Alison Coffin, PC Leader Ches Crosbie and Liberal Leader Andrew Furey have addressed issues ranging from fertilization treatments to the fishery.

Wednesday night at the House of Assembly, they'll have an opportunity to challenge each other face-to-face on those pledges. 

The parties have squared off in two public forums already this week: one of them highlighting education and schools, the other, labour.

Furey, however, was absent at the latter, citing a busy travel schedule and his preparations for Wednesday's debate.

Crosbie and Coffin have a leg up on Furey in terms of debate experience, having tested each other's campaigns in the 2019 election.

Furey, however, got a taste of the action in the 2020 Liberal leadership debate against his then opponent John Abbott.

Wednesday's debate will be live, starting at 7 p.m. NT, on CBC Television, CBC Radio, on CBC NL's YouTube page and right here at cbc.ca/nl.

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