The station manager of the University of Toronto’s community radio station has apologized for the confusion surrounding the mayoral debate originally scheduled for Monday and later cancelled.

Last week Ken Stowar invited Mayor Rob Ford and candidates Olivia Chow, John Tory and Sarah Thomson to appear on CIUT 89.5 FM. He controversially left out Karen Stintz and David Soknacki, who have polled ahead of Thomson despite saying he had invited the “top four” candidates.

A belated invitation was extended to Soknacki, but then seemingly retracted via a tweet from the station announcing the debate — without mentioning Soknacki.

Amid the chaos, Ford, Tory and Chow pulled out of the proceedings in a rare joint statement citing disorganization. Stowar formally cancelled the debate during a radio address Sunday afternoon.

MORE: Full campaign coverage at thestar.com

He apologized for the “poorly worded” initial statement, and said he was overwhelmed by turmoil at the station when its 27-year-old transmitter suddenly died just days before its biannual fundraising drive, Stowar said Sunday.

“Without a transmitter the station cannot broadcast. Likewise without the ongoing support of our listening community,” he said.

“As a result, I did not attend to the organization of the debate as closely as I should have or to the inquiries about it from candidates and the media.”

“Upon the failure of the transmitter and the need to focus my attention on returning the station to optimal operations, I should have cancelled the debate more promptly. I apologize for the confusion this has caused to the candidates, the university, the station’s listeners and the voters of Toronto.”

Stowar told the Star he had invited Ford, Tory, Chow and Thomson just to keep things interesting.

“I wanted good radio and I wanted some spice,” he said Saturday.

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