(L-R): Same Crete (Communist Party), Mary Shortall (NDP), Otis Crandell (Green Party), and moderator Yumna Iftikhar. On Wednesday night, The Independent hosted a federal election debate on the Signal Hill Campus of Memorial University, this time with candidates in the riding of St. John’s East (watch our first debate in Corner Brook, in the Long Range Mountains riding, here, and a fact-check of that debate here). Once again, the candidates representing Canada’s two biggest political parties declined to take part in the debate. But those are not exclusively social housing units—a broad term covering publicly owned or heavily subsidized housing. The Independent’s debates and federal election coverage is supported by the Covering Canada: Election 2025 Fund.