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Canadian Corner Talk aboot things Canadian, eh?

View Poll Results: Should May be allowed to take part in the debates?
Yes 3 60.00%
No 2 40.00%
Voters: 5. You may not vote on this poll

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Unread 10 Sep 2008, 11:50 PM
islandgirl islandgirl is offline
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Default Should Elizabeth May be allowed to participate in the debates?

Moot point now, I know. But what are your thoughts? Really, the other leaders had not choice but to allow her to take part.

Also, do you think the Greens will win any seats?


May wins battle to join leaders debates

OTTAWA - Green party Leader Elizabeth May is hailing people power after winning her battle to be included in the federal election leaders debates.

The "backroom threats" that blocked her from joining the other party leaders sparked such outrage among Canadians that the Tories and NDP had no choice but to reverse course, May said Wednesday.

"It's grassroots power of the people," she said.

"People from all walks of life were incensed ... I had a lady this morning at the Pictou (N.S.) Tim Hortons say to me, 'I've been Conservative all my life, I'm not voting Tory again,' because she found it so offensive."

The TV network consortium that runs the debates announced Monday that May was not welcome, saying some leaders opposed her participation.

It was later revealed that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and NDP Leader Jack Layton had threatened to boycott the event.

The consortium - CBC, Radio-Canada, CTV, Global and TVA - reversed course Wednesday after Harper and Layton both backed down.

The pair had contended that including May would be tantamount to permitting two Liberal candidates because she has repeatedly expressed her preference for Liberal Leader Stephane Dion over Harper as prime minister.

May had turned her exclusion into a cause celebre, saying the closed-door discussions and secrecy that surrounded the decision were an insult to democracy.

Once her rivals withdrew their objections, the feeling at Green headquarters in New Glasgow, N.S., was "slightly euphoric," May said.

"This is a tonic for citizen engagement in the election process," she said.

"This says to Canadians: when you care about your country and you care about democracy in a very non-partisan way, you can make change."

A spokesman for Harper said the Conservatives still object in principle to May's presence, but given that Layton has changed his mind, the prime minister will not boycott the debates if the Greens are admitted.

"We're not going to stand alone on a point of principle," said Kory Teneycke. "We don't think she should be there. But if the NDP have decided they're changing their position, we will not stand alone."

But some Conservatives suggest it wasn't Harper's idea to keep May out of the debates.

"The truth of the matter is the NDP took a position and we agreed to back them because we, like the NDP, thought that this was unfair on principle," said Sen. Marjory LeBreton, the Conservative campaign co-chair.

"But if Jack Layton has decided to change his position, I mean, we're not going to stand in the way of her participating in the debate."

Harper's change of heart came less than an hour after Layton's about-face. Layton said the issue had "become a distraction" and he did not want to continue "debating about the debate."

The NDP leader had been dogged by the controversy after saying May had no place at the table. His position had been assailed as hypocritical not only by May, but also by some of his own supporters.

Dion, who had objected to May's exclusion, said her victory marked a "good day" for both women and democracy.

"I'm pleased that Mr. Harper and Mr. Layton backtracked. It was time," he said while speaking at a high school in Walkerton, Ont.

"I don't understand why they were not of this view at the very beginning. Everybody knows that the Green party represents something in this country - including Madame May - so it's good news."

May stepped up pressure on the TV networks to allow her into the debates after Independent MP Blair Wilson joined the party, giving the Greens a temporary toehold in the Commons.

The party was excluded in the 2006 campaign debates despite growing popular support because it had not elected a single MP.
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