Vancouver-Centre incumbent Hedy Fry compared the Conservative party to a "dictatorship" after no Tory candidate showed up to a debate on global poverty last night.

"Mr. Harper continues to muzzle his people," she said after the forum. "They're only allowed to speak if he gives them the words to say and that is a form of dictatorship."

In the debate, Fry squared off against Green Party candidate for Vancouver North, Jim Stephenson, and the New Democratic Party's South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale candidate, Peter Prontzos, on issues such as foreign aid and farm subsidies. No Conservative candidate participated in the Engineers Without Borders-sponsored event.

Fry said she wasn't surprised.

"The Conservatives have been absent for practically every debate," she said.

But Fry refrained from taking any pot shots at Vancouver-Centre NDP candidate Michael Byers, who was supposed to show up to the forum but cancelled earlier today.

"I really don't like to hypothesize why other people do things," she said. "It's not fair to them."

James Haga, one the event's organizers, said he contacted 13 Conservative candidates to appear at the debate. He said he even contacted the Tory's national office to no avail.

"We were genuinely disappointed that they weren't able to show up," he said. "We've been planning this for about three and a half weeks now."

The NDP's Vancouver-centre spokesperson Am Johal said Byers wasn't able to make the forum because he was asked to appear on a televised CBC debate at the last minute.

Byers teaches political science at UBC and has an extensive academic background in global poverty issues. Asked whether the NDP candidate missed an opportunity to put his expertise to work, Johal said it wasn't a concern.

"This is not something we're particularly worried about," he said.

Geoff Dembicki is a staff reporter for The Hook.