OTTAWA – Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and MP (Saanich – Gulf Islands) issued the following statement regarding the Harper Conservatives’ decision to decline the Debate Consortium’s proposal of four debates:

“In the 2011 federal election, the Consortium of Broadcasters that carried the debates reached 14 million Canadians from coast to coast to coast, from remote communities to urban hubs, through a variety of easily accessible formats: 10 million English-speaking Canadians and 4 million French-speaking; that represents approximately 50% of Quebec and over 40% of all of Canada.

“Stephen Harper’s decision to decline the debate consortium’s proposal is an obvious attempt to fragment the audience and limit easily accessible coverage to all Canadians, including residents of rural and remote communities with limited access to private broadcasting, high-speed internet, and web streaming.

“The Green Party believes that the more debates, the better. All Canadians have a right to view the federal leaders’ debates, and the Prime Minister has an obligation to answer Canadians, as do all other federal leaders. Imagine what would happen if the President in the U.S election refused to participate in debates with the CBS, CNN, NBC, and ABC networks.

“We have gladly accepted the consortium’s proposal, as well as the proposal from Macleans Magazine. I will also accept any debate proposals from other providers as they emerge.

“As we saw in the New Brunswick provincial election last year, when the Progressive Conservatives declined to participate in a network debate with the Green Party and others, the debate was scheduled to continue without the Conservatives until they rejoined after public outcry; I am pleased the Consortium will follow this precedent and will continue on with or without Stephen Harper – we can leave a podium empty for him at the debate in case he reconsiders.”

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Elizabeth May has been a topic of hot debate in the lead up to the Canadian general election this October with her potential inclusion in the leaders debate.

There’s no forgetting Canada’s unfortunate climate reputation: as a country consistently ranked in the bottom five in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI). Produced by Germanwatch, the CCPI evaluates the climate policies of the 58 countries responsible for over 90 per cent of global energy-related carbon emissions. Then there’s the Stephen Harper government’s never-ending support of the oil and tar sands industry. And we’ve all watched on as Harper continues to support the construction of the Keystone pipeline, which Obama has vetoed. The list of disastrous environmental policies goes on, which begs the question: is this election an opportunity for Canada to change it’s environmental trajectory?

At the most recent UN climate talks, May was the only leader of a Canadian political party to actually attend. In the lead up to the Paris negotiations, she is focused on changing Canada’s current environmental policy, which has severely deteriorated under the Harper government. May say down with The Verb last December to discuss her hopes in 2015, and the role of the Canadian Green Party in the lead up to the election and negotiations in Paris.

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Certainly many Canadians from a non-partisan position have voiced their support. Many wrote to tell me they felt I had won the debate in 2008. Canadians of all stripes and backgrounds have sent very heartening messages of support. Two former Prime Ministers (the Rt. Hon Joe Clark and Rt. Hon Paul Martin) both have spoken out to decry the decision. So, too, has the former head of Elections Canada, Jean Pierre Kingsley. Kingsley, quite rightly, pointed out that with 7% of the vote in 2008, and running 308 candidates across Canada, in no other country could he imagine us being excluded.

Margaret Atwood and Farley Mowat expressed their outrage, but the so-called Consortium would not budge. Veterans activist Sean Bruyea wrote to express his anger that after fighting for democracy over-seas, veterans return to Canada to find it dwindling at home. Ron Wright, author of Short History of Progress, among other books, wrote a statement we included in our appeal to the Federal Court:

“Democracies are rare in history; they are easily hijacked by tyrants, and lost by neglect.  Harper has got away with far too much already.  Many Canadians have little idea of the damage he has done to our constitution and our country, though Elizabeth May has certainly been keeping score.  Now media barons are trying to shut her out of the campaign debates.  This decision is an outrage.  All Canadians, whether Green or not, are being cheated.  May’s clear and thoughtful voice must be heard.”

And here we are, days after the debates. The doors stayed barred. The consortium (CBC, CTV, TVA, Global and Radio Canada) wrote to those who complained (or at least CBC did) that the decision was approved in advance by the four old line parties. The Consortium’s lawyer argued in court that if I were included, the other party leaders might not participate and then there would be no debate at all. I don’t think the other leaders wanted me there either. They issued strong protestations and got the French debate moved to accommodate the Stanley Cup play-offs. They washed their hands of the Consortium’s decision to exclude the Greens, which they were all too happy to hide behind.

All the other parties and the national media have decided that the single largest threat to civilization, climate change, is not an issue in this election. In the 2008 federal election campaign, I grew slightly weary of the question, “what’s the point of the Green Party when all the parties are trying to be green?”

In 2011, the question has shifted, “Now that climate change is not an issue, what’s the point of the Green Party?”

Meanwhile, Greens have identified one of the best ways to arrest rising health care costs is by taking on Big Pharma. Twenty per cent of costs are now due to pharmaceuticals and it is the fastest rising portion of our health care expenditures. The magnificent work of the Therapeutics Initiative (TI) at UBC is at risk because Big Pharma is lobbying the BC government to cut its funding. Why? Because this little group of diligent experts has been advising our provincial government with an independent evidence-based assessment of new prescription drugs. There are an estimated five hundred British Columbians alive today because the TI advised that Vioxx would do more harm than good. We need evidence based assessment, a centralized bulk buying agency to eliminate the unsafe prescription drugs and drive down the cost of the ones providing a benefit.

Our agriculture policy takes aim at corporate influence at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada and within the Canada Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). CFIA is responsible for both promotion of Canadian food exports and food safety at home. It is essential that the food safety regulator not have a dual mandate and conflict of interest. We want to protect the family farm, ensure farmers make a decent income on farm, whether organic or not. We cannot allow the Cargills and Maple Leafs to drive food policy.

So, in this election campaign, the Green Party has been sidelined by the media Consortium, removing the risk of any inconvenient truths being voiced at the debates. In the debates, there was no discussion of Libya, Energy policy, First Nations, Fisheries, Pharmaceuticals, Womens’ Rights – the list is long.

The debates debacle was an insult to any and every Canadian who believed our electoral system included a fair process to oversee the televised leaders’ debate. It should be the very last time Canadians allow the ad hoc media executives behind closed door approach to democracy. To vote to ensure that such exclusion cannot happen again, to ensure that the efforts to suppress these truths will not succeed, please allow me to be your voice.

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