Poll: 73% of Canadians want Elizabeth May in leaders’ debate. Sign the petition!
Thanks to the Green Party media team for alerting me to a new poll yesterday. Angus Reid asked Canadians whether they wanted to see Elizabeth May and the Green Party included in the next round of televised leaders’ debates, and they overwhelming said “Yes”! Seventy-three percent of those polled responded that they believe May should be permitted to participate in leaders’ debates in the next election. This isn’t surprising, as Canadians have been polled on this very topic for several years now, and the results are always in this range. An internal Green poll put the number at 77% in 2007, Decima also found 77% that year (can’t find link anymore), and another Angus Reid poll last year found 66% want May in the debates.
Despite a strong desire on the part of the Canadian public to hear from the Greens in the debates again, and the stellar reviews of May’s 2008 performances (including this nice one today), the television networks have yet to guarantee the Greens a seat at the table. This brings me back to a point I made a couple of weeks ago: it’s completely unacceptable that such a significant component of any election campaign is left to the whims of TV executives. Virtually all aspects of Canadians elections are governed by the Elections Act, and it’s actually quite shocking that the televised debates, arguably a key election event, are completely unregulated. It’s time for an independent debates commission that will regulate debate participation, format and content, as per current practice in most other jurisdictions.
But until parliamentarians assume their responsibility to ensure fair debates, we must rely on the support of Canadians to ensure Elizabeth May is included in the next round of leaders’ debates. The Greens have resurrected our popular Demand Democratic Debates website, which was key to securing Elizabeth May’s participation last time around. Visit the site, sign the petition, and make sure the networks know that if they again try to pull backroom tricks to exclude legitimate voices from debating, public outrage will return.
Well, if Michael Johansen of The Western Star NORTH WEST RIVER, LABRADOR says that May won the debates and should be in the next ones, that surely counters The Globe and Mail’s national affairs columnist Jeffrey Simpson who suggests otherwise.
Personally, I don’t care one way or the other. She already gets more than her fair share of media coverage. But, I suppose to some it means legitimacy as a party.
But has it ever occured to you that maybe a good portion of the 77% want her there because she alienates voters and drives away support from the Greens? ie their intentions for wanting her there may not be the same as yours.
Signed the petition.
This time it would be great if Elizabeth ignores Harper and instead uses the minutes to sketch an innovative but common-sense Green platform.
Elizabeth May must be part of the debate.
The Green Party is the Party that needs to be known to all canadians and it is through a televised leaders debate that most voters decide who they are going to vote for.
I’d bet the majority of voters don’t even watch the debates anymore. Last year’s four on one gangup was not a debate. It was a hecklefest. Canadians deserve better.