(OTTAWA) - In a letter sent yesterday, Green Leader Elizabeth May called on Mr. Mulcair and Mr. Harper to drop their boycott of the English national televised leaders debate, citing the need to safeguard the health of our democracy and citizen engagement in this election.
Currently scheduled for Oct. 7, only Mr. Trudeau and Ms. May have committed to participate in the debate. Mr. Mulcair had previously agreed but has since said that was only ‘in principle’.
“For more than three decades, the major networks have broadcasted a debate for Canadians. In 2011, the English national leaders debate reached 10 million people,” said Elizabeth May. “It is a critical link but, as things now stand, this vital opportunity to engage and inform voters may not happen at all.”
Ms. May pointed out that the Conservatives’ decision to skip the debates was a surprise given a 2007 letter sent to her by Stephen Harper wherein he stated his party’s support for a televised national leaders’ debate during a federal election. Mr. Harper also outlined his party’s only condition for participating in the leaders’ debate: one Member of Parliament elected under their party banner.
“Unless either Mr. Mulcair or Mr. Harper (or ideally both) change their current boycott positions, we may have the unfair outcome that only French viewers will see a national debate that reaches all parts of Canada,” May’s letter states. “Canadians in both official languages have an equal right to see a nationally broadcasted debate.”
“It is unconscionable that political parties, operating with no rules, would undermine and ultimately derail such an important tradition,” concluded May.
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For additional information or to arrange an interview, contact:
Julian Morelli
Director of Communications
Green Party of Canada
cell: (613) 614 4916
office: (613) 562 4916 (224)
julian.morelli@greenparty.ca
Or
Kirsten Strom
Executive Assistant to Director of Communications
t: 613.562.4916 (200)
Toll Free 1.866.868.3447
kirsten.strom@greenparty.ca
