I will re-print the CBC story in full:
Canada’s broadcasters will not allow the Green Leader Elizabeth May to participate in the leaders’ debates during the federal election campaign, the networks announced Monday afternoon.
The consortium of networks, which includes the CBC, said three of Canada’s parties were opposed the May’s inclusion.
“It became clear that if the Green Party were included, there would be no leaders’ debate,” the consortium said in a press release.
“In the interest of Canadians, the consortium has determined that it is better to broadcast the debates with the four major party leaders, rather than not at all.”
The parties that will take part in the debates are the New Democrats, the Liberals, the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives.
The debates will take place Oct. 1 and Oct. 2.
Given that 80% of Canadians said the Greens should be allowed to debate, this has to be seen as a failure of Canadian democracy. How is it possible for other parties to decide whether or not their competition is allowed in the debates? We’re stunned.
Update: Reaction to the Greens exclusion is has been overwhelmingly against the decision (for all but the most partisan):
Andrew Coyne — “Democracy Takes a Beating”
Dr. Dawg — “Green exclusion: an anti-democratic travesty”
Stageleft — “Elizabeth May Scares 3 Out Of 4 Political Leaders”
Saskboy — “Party Leaders are Sooky Babies – Media Cartel”
BlastFurnace — “Voters believe in democracy; the networks don’t”
Challenging the Commonplace — “Exclusion of May sends Votes to Greens”
DivaRachel — “Old Boys Club keeps Liz May out of debates”
Sean in Saskatchewan — “May Cut Out of Leader’s Debate…Shame!”
Law in Cool — “Green Party Barred from Election Debates”
The Vanity Press — “Greens Excluded”
Dymaxion World — “Unacceptable”
Cyberwuff — “Green Party excluded from televised debates… again”
ThreeSeven — “May: She joins the debates or I don’t pay for this election”
Russell Ormond — “Tories, Bloc, NDP opposed May’s inclusion in debates”
John Laforest — “Elizabeth May Belongs in the Leaders Debate”
D’Arcy Norman — “on democratic leader’s debates”
The Breadbin — “NO, you May not???”
Ray Arygyle — “Election Debate Outrage”
Far and Wide — “Screwed”
Jennifer O’Meara — “No girls allowed at the debates?”
John Waugh — “Opportunism trumps principle”
Canadian Journalism Project — “Greens and the election debate”
Pogge — “If True, This is Disgraceful”
The Angry Cupcake — “Greens Can’t Participate in Leaders’ Debates”
Update: Andrew Coyne reports that the Bloc Québécois has broken ranks — they are denying that they told the media consortium that they would not attend the debates if the Greens were included. As Coyne notes, you would have a debate that included Dion, Duceppe, and May already. If Jack Layton relented, the only guy standing in the way of the Greens inclusion is Stephen Harper. It’s highly unlikely he would skip the debate if all the other leaders were participating. So it comes down to Jack Layton. What do you say Jack, are you willing to stand on principal and let the Greens speak?
Update: even many of the newspaper editorials are also critical of this decision, which is notable given the extent to which the media is consolidated in Canada (such that many newspapers are owned by the very people who denied the Greens participation – note how canada.com is curiously silent on the issue, which means a plethora of newspapers apparently have no opinon).
Toronto Star — “TV debate hypocrisy”
Globe and Mail — “A club without Greens”
Update: It also appears that NDP leader Jack Layton is taking a lot of heat from his own supporters for his crass political move not block the Greens participation in the debates.
Ottawa Citizen — “NDP Facebook supporters blast Layton over debates”
Update — the Winnipeg Free Press seems to understand the message in a cartoon from today:
If your comment doesn't appear, it is because our automatic anti-spam software is blocking it. If so, just send us an email and we will post it for you.