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OTTAWA — The federal NDP has scheduled a leadership debate for early March, even though there are still no official candidates to lead the party.

Still, NDP national director Robert Fox expects at least a few contestants will appear at an Ottawa hotel March 12. “There’s no question in my mind we’ll have a good array of candidates available on that stage.”

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This first debate, which will be bilingual, will coincide with a meeting of the NDP’s federal council attended by senior New Democrats from across the country. A second bilingual debate will take place in Montreal about two weeks later, on the topic of issues facing Canada’s youth.

B.C. MP Peter Julian is the only person formally registered with Elections Canada as a candidate, but he hasn’t yet announced a final decision on whether he will actually run. Ontario MP Charlie Angus is also in the process of gathering support for a potential bid. Rumours persist that Québec MP Guy Caron, Manitoba MP Niki Ashton and the deputy leader of the Ontario NDP, Jagmeet Singh, are also considering a run.