The Globe and Mail's Eric Reguly and Stephane Dion are calling for the Green Party to be included in any next federal election television debates. The timing of such an election is ironically within the control of the NDP based on how the seats shake down with floor crossings and caucus expulsions. My expectation is Jack Layton would be happier if the Greens were left in the Green Room and not on the stage.
The television broadcasters seem to think they should have the control over this aspect of our democracy. They get to say that if a Party does not have a seat in Parliament then you don’t get to participate in the debates. Who made them the boss of the citizens?
The environment is the #1 issue in the country right now and the Greens are the Party most identified with that issue. Besides their Leader Elizabeth May ran a very respectful second place in a recent southern Ontario By-election. She beat the Conservatives and the NDP candidates with a healthy 25% of the vote.
May and her Party are a significant and proven political force to be reckoned with. Seats should not be the only test for inclusion. Performance in voter support plays a role here too. It is no problem to include the Bloc in the debates, and their primary goal is to split up the country for God’s sake.
So regardless of your partisan politics, support the Greens being included in the debates. There is an on line petition on the Green's site. Show your support and sign up. We can show the broadcasters that they must reconsider this policy and include the Greens notwithstanding the lack of a seat.
LET'S DRAFT GARTH TURNER!
If this petition isn’t enough, let’s start a movement to draft the Independent MP, Garth Turner to join the Greens. This would be for the sole purpose of giving them a seat to “qualify” under the broadcaster’s silly rules to be for included in the debates.
I think that would be a refreshing exercise of a strategic realpolitik power play by a Turner and May tag team. It would be a perfect response to the shallow thinking of the opponents of the Greens being included. I would applaud Turner if he were to decide to stay Green or if he chooses to resign from the Greens immediately after their participation in the debates were confirmed.
I am serious about a draft Turner effort if it becomes necessary. Some times you have to fight absurdity with absurdity. It is nice when you can do it with creativity and class. But in the meantime sign the petition and let’s be sure to let the powers that be know the Canadian democracy belongs to the citizens, not the broadcasters or the politicians.
Garth is going RED...as in Dion Red.
ReplyDeleteHell be joining the Libs for the nomination or be acclaimed in Halton.
Sorry...the Greens have their candidate already.
Elizabeth May should be in the debate to show how she is the most genuine proponent for the environment compared to both Dion and Harper.
ReplyDeleteI believe that if a sitting MP wants to change his or her party affliation, then he or she should resign and immediately hold a byelection.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I too believe that it appears absurd that Elizabeth May is not going to be allowed to debate. Having said that, where do we draw the line? 1%? 2%? 8%? Ken, as you noticed in the last PC leadership race, the debates with 8 candidates was annoying to say the least.
This just in - Canadians agree with Dion on the Green's in the debates:
ReplyDelete"More than 75 per cent want Green party leader in election TV debate: poll
OTTAWA (CP) - A new poll suggests a large majority of Canadians want the leader of the upstart Green party to participate in any televised leaders' debate before the next federal election.
The Decima Research question, included in a recent national survey of more than 1,000 respondents, found that 77 per cent would like to see Elizabeth May locking horns with the leaders of the four established parties during the next campaign.
The Green party has never won a seat in Parliament, but is currently polling around nine per cent in most national public-opinion surveys.
Support for having the major TV networks include May with the other leaders in a pre-election debate was remarkably consistent across party lines and geographic regions.
Among self-identified Liberal and Conservative backers, 78 per cent want her in the debate. Among NDP supporters, that number jumps to 85 per cent.
The Greens have previously been excluded from national televised debates under a networks' policy requiring parties to have at least one elected member in the Commons.
Overall, only 11 per cent of respondents opposed May's participation, and 12 per cent had no opinion.
The poll was taken between Jan. 11 and Jan. 15 and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20."
© The Canadian Press, 2007
Who actually makes the decision on whether a party can or cannot be part of the televized debate?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 11:24 am - it is the television industry network executives who set the rules as to who gets to play - so far!
ReplyDeleteI see new poll results today showing 77% of Canadians think the Greens should be included. We need to get the networks to change their minds.