After much controversial opposition the Green Party candidate – Elizabeth May - will finally take the stage at the Federal Elections Leaders’ Debate on October 1st and 2nd. Elizabeth May will join the other major party leaders at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa for the televised leaders' debates.
Initially, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and NDP Leader Jack Layton threatened to boycott the event if Elizabeth May participated. The broadcast networks also moved to exclude May. The Green Party was able to rally supporters to convince the Conservative government, NDP Leader Jack Layton, and the broadcast networks, that she indeed had a democratic right to speak at the debate.
After an outpouring of support, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and NDP Leader Jack Layton both backed down from their opposition to May's involvement. CTV News reported that the five networks in the broadcasting Federal Elections’ debate consortium -- CTV, CBC, Radio-Canada, Global and TVA -- said May was only excluded because some leaders threatened to boycott the debate if she was allowed to participate.
The decision to exclude May from the debates resulted in the Green Party threatening to file a formal compliant with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. Thousands of concerned Canadians called their broadcast networks and politicians, wrote letters and staged protests insisting May had a democratic right to participate in the debates.
On September 2nd, the networks agreed to let May participate. The Green Party reports that more than 660,000 Canadians voted green in the last Federal Election. They estimate green votes will be in the millions this time around as the environment is a much more pressing issue for Canadians.
The French debate runs from 8 – 10 p.m. on Wednesday (October 1st, 2008) and the English debate from 9 – 11 p.m. Thursday (October 2nd, 2008). Both will be broadcast live on major networks.
The U.S. vice-presidential debate also takes place on Oct. 2nd.
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