I really should change the radio station on my alarm, because waking up to the news just makes me start my day angry.
Half-awake, I drift in and out of how the Green Party is (once again) not being included in the leaders’ debates.
Why? Because the Conservatives, Bloc and NDP threw “if she’s there I’m not going” hissy fits.
Elizabeth May fronts a party that received nearly 5% of the votes in the last election, when they received the votes of 664,068 Canadians. Canadian taxpayers finance the Green Party (political parties with more than 2% of the popular vote receive federal funding). They even had a member sitting in parliament (since BC independent Blair Wilson joined the party in 2008). A criteria that a 2006 CBC ombudsman report declared “indisputable” for inclusion in the national debate.
There’s a good rundown presented by the Green Party here. Which includes some “fun” facts on the arbitrariness of inclusion in these debates. Like how Preston Manning was included in the 1993 debate, based on Reform winning one seat in 1989. Or the Bloc getting a podium, which they’ve had since before they had a member in parliament, and before they had official party status.
If this bothers you, this is the petition set up the last time an “editorial decision” excluded the Green Party.
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