Canadian leaders debates

Canadian leaders debates are leaders debates televised during federal elections in Canada, made up of two debates, one in French and one in English, usually held on back-to-back nights. The first time these debates were held was during the 1968 election. They are currently produced by a consortium of the main Canadian television networks, namely the CBC/SRC, CTV, Global and TVA, although other channels such as CPAC (and C-SPAN in the United States; English-language debate only) carry the broadcasts as well.

Inclusion criteria

Although there are usually a dozen or so political parties registered with Elections Canada at any given time, only parties with at least one sitting Member of Parliament at the time of dissolution have been invited to the debate. This is regardless of whether the members were elected under that party's banner or switched following the member's election. Over the years, there have been at least three, and as many as five, leaders at each such debate.

The rules have shifted over time, but the most accepted criteria requires that a political party needs to have representation in the House of Commons as well as proven popular support in the country of at least 5 per cent of popular vote in the polls.

Prior to the 2008 election, the Green Party of Canada, which, from at least the 1997 election until 2008, was consistently the highest-polling party among those without a seat in Parliament, had unsuccessfully argued on several occasions for a role in the debates.

Some commentatorswho have questioned the rationale for allowing the Bloc Québécois to participate in the English-language debates, given that the Bloc does not contest any ridings outside the predominantly French-language province of Quebec, and garners little support from that province's anglophone residents. The reverse might be argued for the Reform Party in the 1993 French-language debate, when it did not run any candidates in Quebec that year – in fact, as then-leader Preston Manning was only fluent in English at the time, he opted to make only an opening statement at this debate. [cite news |first=Chantal |last=Hébert |authorlink=Chantal Hébert |coauthors= |title=Networks have lost their journalistic backbone |url=http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/496450 |work=Toronto Star |publisher= |date=2008-09-10 |accessdate=2008-09-10 ] However, as parties with seats in the House of Commons prior to the election, they qualify (or qualified) regardless of this criticism.

2005/6 debates

There were four debates for the 2006 election. The first two were held in Vancouver. The French-language debate was on Thursday, December 15, followed the next day by the English debate. The final debates were scheduled for Gatineau or Montreal, the English-language debate on Monday, January 9, the French-language debate on January 10.

The four participants were Liberal leader and incumbent prime minister Paul Martin, Conservative leader Stephen Harper, NDP leader Jack Layton, and Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe.

2008 debates

Two debates took place during the 2008 election. The French language debate was on October 1 from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. EDT and was moderated by Stéphan Bureau. The English language debate was held the following evening, from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. EDT, and was moderated by Steve Paikin. Both were held at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. [ [http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2008/08/c2613.html News Release - 2008 Leaders' Debate] , September 8, 2008] The timing of the English debate, at exactly the same time as the previously-scheduled U.S. vice presidential debate, means that Canadian networks did not have to preempt any popular simulcast American programming in order to carry the domestic broadcast. Sources close to the consortium reported that this was indeed a key motivation for choosing the October 2 date. [cite web|url=http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/507472|title=It's duelling debates for Canadian viewers|first=Richard|last=Brennan|work=Toronto Star|date=2008-09-27|accessdate=2008-09-30]

The five participants were Conservative leader and incumbent prime minister Stephen Harper, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, NDP leader Jack Layton, Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe, and Green Party leader Elizabeth May.

The consortium had originally announced that the Greens would again be excluded from the debates, despite securing sitting MP Blair Wilson as the Greens' first MP just prior to dissolution. Two parties, the Conservatives and the NDP, opposed the inclusion of the Green Party, citing a deal struck between the Green Party and Liberals where the Liberals would not run in Green Party leader Elizabeth May's riding, Central Nova, and the Green party in Liberal leader Stéphane Dion's riding, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville. Stephen Harper and Jack Layton said that if the Green Party were included, they would not participate in the Leaders' Debates. Dion said that while he supports May's inclusion, he would not attend if the prime minister does not, and the Bloc Québécois said it never threatened to boycott the debates. [cite web | title= Green leader blames Harper, Layton for being barred from debates| work=canada.com | url=http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/story.html?id=ce3e7a10-554b-4aa7-ad89-5bef5927cd98 | accessdate=2008-09-09] The media consortium in charge of the debate decided that it would prefer to broadcast the debates with the four major party leaders, rather than risk not at all. The Green Party indicated they would lodge a formal complaint with the CRTC. [cite web | title=News Release - 2008 Leaders' Debates | work=CNW group | url=http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2008/08/c2613.html | accessdate=2008-09-09] cite web|url = http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/09/08/greens-debates.html|title = Greens can't participate in leaders debates, networks rule|accessdate = 2008-09-09|last = Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|authorlink = |year = 2008|month = September] Tony Burman, a former CBC News Chief and Chair of the Network Consortium called the process "a sham" and called for an independent body to govern the debates. cite web|url = http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080910.wburman0910/BNStory/politics/home|title = Former CBC News chief: The election debate process is a sham |work=The Globe and Mail|accessdate = 2008-09-11]

A considerable public outcry resulted, with extensive coverage on TV, radio, and websites. [cite web | title=May gets green light with a push from the people | work=Globe and Mail | url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080911.ELECTDEBATE11/TPStory/National | accessdate=2008-09-11] The NDP leader in particular came under pressure from his own members and supporters. [cite web | title=May pins hopes on outcry | work=The Star | url=http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/496459 | accessdate=2008-09-11] Former prime minister Joe Clark called for May to be included. [cite web | title=Let Elizabeth May speak | work=Globe and Mail | url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080910.COCLARK10/TPStory/TPComment/Television | accessdate=2008-09-11] On September 10, the Conservatives and NDP announced they no longer opposed May's participation; shortly thereafter, the consortium invited May to participate. [ [http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2008/10/c3505.html Broadcast Consortium to invite Elizabeth May to participate in 2008 Leaders' Debates] , press release, September 10, 2008]

Format and draw results

The following format was to be followed for the 2008 debates: [http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2008/19/c6669.html Broadcast Consortium press release] , September 19, 2008]
*Each leader will have 45 seconds for an opening statement, and the same length for a closing statement.
*The debates will each be divided into eight themed segments (one question per theme). The leaders will be informed of the themes, but not the questions, five days prior to the debates.
*Questions will be posed by Canadians via pre-taped segments. These will be selected from questions submitted to the consortium via email ( [mailto:[e-mail] [e-mail]] )
*For each question, each leader will have 45 seconds to respond, followed by eight minutes of open debate.

The parties and the consortium later agreed to allot additional time to the economy because of the 2008 global economic crisis. The opening and closing statements have been eliminated. [ [http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/509367 Economy engulfs TV debates] , Bruce Campion-Smith, "Toronto Star", October 1, 2008]

Pursuant to draws held on September 19, the following order was used for the debates:

References