Media: Be Democratic. Include Elizabeth May


Now that it appears Thomas Mulcair is pulling out of the consortium's televised debates (thus following Stephen Harper's lead) the net result may be that Canadians do not get a chance to hear Elizabeth May in the debates.
I wrote to the Globe and Mail last month, encouraging them to include her. Here is my response to theirs (their response can be read by clicking on this link):

Quoting one paragraph from their response: David Walmsley, The Globe’s editor-in-chief says, “We’ve set up the debate this way because we believe that by limiting the format to Canada’s three main party leaders, we will create a truly focused, successful discussion about the state of the Canadian economy.” 

I responded: "As all three party leaders are fundamentally all neo-liberal in their world view (Mr. Mulcair was a cabinet minister in Quebec’s right-wing Liberal government) the debate may indeed be 'focused,' but sadly lacking any real diversity. With Mr. Mulcair now withdrawing from the consortium (something the Conservative Party predicted) it appears that your newspaper has joined with the NDP and Conservatives to avoid widening the debate to include a different paradigm in this election. 

"If your newspaper supports democracy, then it behooves you to widen your perspective and include Ms. May in your event. Join with the desire of most Canadians to have her included. Show us you believe in democracy and a plurality of opinions."

In the meantime, here is Elizabeth May's inspirational and moving speech at the start of the election campaign. If the commercial mass media in cahoots with their favourite politicians are going to exclude Elizabeth, it's up to us to get out the Green message!

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