The decision by the broadcasting consortium to exclude Elizabeth May from the leadership debate, while perhaps defensible from a legalistic standpoint--the Green Party holds no seats in Parliament--is nevertheless both mean-spirited and undemocratic. Last election the Green Party garnered 7 % of the popular vote. Despite not earning a seat, her vote total represents a constituency as large as that of Gilles Duceppe's, just diffused across the country. One might even argue that her party has more legitimacy than that of the Bloq Quebecois since it does not seek to support one area of the country to the detriment or exclusion of all others.
The consortium's decision not to invite May is also curious given the decision of the CBC, which holds two of the five seats on the board, to include the Green Party as one of the parties in its Vote Compass survey. I like Vote Compass! It's a great way to engage with politics and assess one's values, and I applaud the CBC for its creativity and initiative in developing it. But if the party was considered important enough to be judged alongside the other four parties in this survey, its leader deserves to be heard in the nationally televised debate.
Let Elizabeth May be heard, and let the people determine for themselves on May 2 how much of a voice they want her to have in the future.
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