A Brief Note from NAL publisher Doug Draper
A majority of Canadians may want to see Green Party leader Elizabeth May participating in the coming Thursday, September 17th leaders debate with Conservative Stephen Harper, NDP Tom Mulcair and Liberal Justin Trudeau.
Canadian Green Party Leader Elizabeth May not included in upcoming leaders’ debate
But despite calls to The Globe & Mail, the media organization hosting the debate, and all of the positive reviews May’s performance received during the first leader’s debate – held on August 6th and hosted by Maclean’s magazine – it is now almost certain May will be left out of this next one.
Given that, I am doing something I would not normally do for any of the parties – running a message below from the federal Green Party about the Globe-hosted debate which includes a request for people to donate to the party’s campaign.
I will repeat what I have said at least two or three times since this federal election was called at the beginning of August – I am not a member of any of the Greens or any of the other parties. But in this case, I see running the following message as a way of repeating my upset that a party that has recently released a full, costed platform for Canada’s future – a link for the Green platform is available below – is not being included in the upcoming debate.
I also see including the party’s request for campaign donations as one small attempt to level the tables of power in what is, after all, a David vs. Goliath race against three established parties.
Now here is the message, circulated this September 2015 by the Green Party of Canada –
| Friend — The Globe and Mail is hosting a leaders’ debate on Thursday. Over 80% of Canadians say they want Elizabeth May and the Green Party to participate, but The Globe and Mail has decided to exclude her anyway. How anti-democratic is that? We knew we were never going to raise as much money as the other three parties, but we did think our ideas –- our vision for Canada -– would be given equal footing. The Globe and Mail debate this week is worth more than $200,000 of free air time to the other three parties. So our fundraising team has set an ambitious goal: raise $200,000 by the time the debate starts. With your generous donation, we will purchase local ads all across the country and make up the ground we will lose Thursday night. These ads will help spread our positive message, and make sure that Canadians from St. John’s to Victoria know about our plan to move Canada forward. Help us spread our message, donate $5 today.
Thanks, |
| Want to Donate by Phone? Call toll-free: 1-866-868-3447 7 am – Midnight ET If you have trouble getting through, please try again! |
To read the Green Party’s full platform click on –http://www.greenparty.ca/sites/default/files/platform_english_web.pdf .
To read an earlier column Niagara At Large posted on this issue click on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2015/08/20/canadas-green-party-leader-should-be-included-in-national-debates/ .
Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from our greater binational Niagara region.
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Niagara At Large 
What is wrong with having another viewpoint expressed?
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