There are a number of ways for the citizens of Red Deer to participate in Red Deer Public Library's Election Forum website:

1. Read the candidates' campaign platforms

• Each candidate in the 2010 Red Deer Municipal Election has their own page on this website where they can present their campaign platforms.
• Using the drop-down menu located at the top right-hand side of the page, navigate to the page of the candidate that you are looking for.
• Read through the candidate's platforms and the comments that have been addressed to them to familiarize yourself with the key issues and principles that they address.

2. Comment on candidates' individual pages

• Navigate to the page of the candidate that you are looking for.
• At the bottom of the page, click the link that says "Add new comment." Or, if you would like to respond to an existing comment, click "Reply" within that comment.
• Enter a subject for your comment.
• Enter your comment. You must include your full name and a valid email address or phone number with your comment.
• Click on "Preview."
• Click on "Save."
• Your comment will be viewed by the moderators before being published to the site. Please note: moderators will do their best to publish all approved comments as soon as possible, but there may be a delay of up to 12-15 hours before your comment appears.
• Please refer to the General Guidelines and Terms of Use for the website (located under the "About" tab in the drop-down menu at the top right-hand side of the page) for guidelines for posting comments.

3. Read the discussion forums presenting different community perspectives on election issues

• There are a number of different discussion forums for everyone to participate in based on questions from community organizations and Red Deer citizens and from media coverage of election issues.
• Using the drop-down menu located at the top right-hand side of the page, navigate to the forum that you are interested in.
• Click on the individual forum topics that you are interested in to read through the existing dialogue between voters, community groups, and the candidates in Red Deer's 2010 Election.

4. Participate in forum discussions

• Navigate to the forum that you would like to participate in.
• Click on the individual forum topic that you are interested in to view the discussion.
• Here, you can either click the link that says "Add new comment" to create an entirely new comment, or click "Reply" to respond to an existing comment.
• Enter a subject for your comment.
• Enter your comment. You must include your full name and a valid email address or phone number with your comment.
• Click on "Preview."
• Click on "Save."
• Your comment will be viewed by the moderators before being published to the site. Please note: moderators will do their best to publish all approved comments as soon as possible, but there may be a delay of up to 12-15 hours before your comment appears.
• Please refer to the General Guidelines and Terms of Use for the website (located under the "About" tab in the drop-down menu at the top right-hand side of the page) for guidelines for posting comments.

5. Suggest a Topic for Discussion

• If there is a question or issue that you would like to see discussed (and that is not currently covered in the forums), you can suggest a topic for discussion.
• Using the drop-down menu located at the top of the page, look under "Forums" for "Suggest a Topic."
• Follow the instructions outlined there to submit your topic.
• Please note that not all suggested topics will be used.