Heckler stirs things up at Bay of Quinte candidates debate
The Belleville Police made an appearance at Wednesday night’s all-candidates debate as a man jeered at Conservative candidate Jodie Jenkins. Photo by Kate Shumakova.
BELLEVILLE – A couple of Belleville Police officers made a special guest appearance at the Bay of Quinte candidates debate Wednesday night, and some people did not like it.
The candidates received a mixture of cheers and jeers from the public as they responded to questions. At one point during the night, Conservative candidate Jodie Jenkins was drowned out by a heckler making loud comments about Jenkins’s answers.
An Empire Theatre security officer asked the man to stay quiet. Later, two police officers arrived and tried to force the man to leave. The debate was delayed for a few minutes. Several members of the audience expressed unhappiness with the officers’ appearance, shouting that ejecting the heckler was a violation of his freedom of speech.
Debate moderator Lorne Brooker, a host at CJBQ radio, said he felt the man should be allowed to say, and in the end the officers did so. No charges were laid.
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