Joe Clark calls for Elizabeth in TV Debates

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By Jim Harris on 10 September 2008 - 6:35am

Former Prime Minister Joe Clark in a landmark opinion peice in today's Globe and Mail calls for Elizabeth May's inclusion in the televised leaders debates.

Canada's 16th Prime Minister in no uncertain terms points out that our electoral system is broken and needs changing.

Clark doesn't pull any punches. He calls Harper, Layton and Duceppe's actions blackmail -- and writes "if these thee men want to boycott a genuine debate let them do so openly."

(the Bloc very shortly after the consortium released it's decsion stated that it had never said it would not participate in a debate if the Greens were included -- so that leaves only Harper and Layton engaging in blackmail).

Elizabeth notes in her blog Piece of Cake today: "The bulk of the voters I spoke to today, whether it was out main-street canvassing or sitting in the New Glasgow office, were horrified that I have been excluded from the debates. We received phone calls from across the country to let us know that long-time Conservatives and NDPers were switching their votes to the Green Party out of disgust for the blatant partisan bullying displayed by" Stephen Harper and Jack Layton.

You can read Joe Clark's full column at
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.2...

But this such a defining moment -- the former Progressive Conservative Prime Minister endorsing the Green Pary's inclusion in the debates -- I'd suggest getting a copy of the Globe today at cutting this out.

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On Kryptonite

Submitted by Jim Johnston on 10 September 2008 - 7:21am.

(This blog post was published yesterday on my blog, lkm-green.blogspot.com . I liked it, so I thought I would share it with you)

Today, I witnessed a magnificent thing. After the announcement yesterday afternoon that the broadcast consortium was planning to deny Elizabeth May a spot at the televised national leaders debate, a groundswell began. It was in the press for a while, but then they backed away from the story pretty soon .. by the end of the day there was not much mention on the news of this travesty.

But something happened. The internet picked it up, the bloggers picked it up, facebook and myspace picked it up, and then the phone calls and letters and faxes started. They started from real people all over Canada who were disgusted with the idea that Jack Layton and Stephen Harper could call the shots over who would and would not be in the debates. Then the press got back into it, seeing the impact and enormity of the backlash. It continued all day. Elizabeth May spent the entire day doing interviews and calls. Call in shows all over the nation were saturated with people outraged at this denial of democracy.

I was very impressed with what I saw. I saw NDP bloggers openly questioning the direction that Jack Layton was taking. I saw a smaller, but similiar, reaction with Conservative bloggers as well. How could Superman Stephen be able to take on 3 opposition leaders all at once with one hand tied behind his back blythly pointing out his superior policies and ideas, but then whine and complain like a baby that adding a 4th leader was unfair and two of them might gang up on him? Is this 4th leader made of kryptonite? Methinks, maybe. Truth is Stephen Harper's kryptonite.

I saw Jack Layton and Stephen Harper referred to as cowards and chickens. I saw more than one reference to Layton's alleged support for proportional representation being called into question. I saw great comments which suggested that Canadians need to see the Green Party and find out what it is about. Sometimes, this suggestion was made by someone who thought that the Green Party is horrific, and people need to see that. I agree. Let's put the information out there and see what the voters think.

True democracy begins with an informed electorate. Harper and Layton think the truth hurts. It should. After all, it is made of kryptonite.

Jim Johnston,
Lambton-Kent-Middlesex

Opinions expressed are my own.

Jim Johnston, Lambton-Kent-Middlesex Opinions expressed are my own.

Likewise, on Yahoo news,

Submitted by Jonathan David ... on 15 September 2008 - 3:08pm.

Likewise, on Yahoo news, which I frequent, I saw umbrage that sometimes led to claims of allegiance shifting. What was most exciting was the great many posts by people who otherwise tend not to contribute their thoughts.