A letter to the broadcast consortium in Canada
I just emailed the letter below to members of the Broadcast Consortium, with regards to Elizabeth May and the Green Party's scheduled exclusion from the upcoming Leaders' Debates. I hope I didn't mangle the French version too much! As I state in the letter, I haven't yet decided which candidate will get my vote, and I don't want to have to decide based on incomplete information or biased televised debates.
It's true that I can become informed about any given party through their website and other campaign materials, but to see their leaders respond to the same questions at the same time, as well as to each other, provides a short, concise glimpse of how things might really be in a Parliament containing more than one party. By that I mean, each party speaks of how wonderful everything would be if they were the only ones running the show -- but that's never going to be the case, so how do they behave in a more realistic setting? Besides, how many Canadians are really going to scrape through PDFs and websites of all the parties to become informed, when they could just watch TV for a couple of hours? (Or skip that, and vote how they did last time... Or skip voting altogether... Why don't we skip that line of thought though, I'm trying to focus on people who actually care, or at least want to care!)
There are all sorts of reasons to include the Greens, many of which they themselves outline here, and essentially no way to both exclude them and remain "independent."
To: "Wendy Freeman and Dennis McIntosh" <programming@ctv.ca>, "Jennifer McGuire" <ombudsman@cbc.ca>, "Troy Reeb" <viewercontact.globalnational@globaltv.com>, "Serge Fortin" <info@tva.ca>, "Radio Canada" <ombudsman@radio-canada.ca>
Re: Inclusion d'Elizabeth May aux débats de cette élection / Inclusion of Elizabeth May in this election's debates
Version Français ci-dessous.
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Dear broadcasters,
I have yet to decide my vote, and I certainly want to hear what Ms. May has to say on behalf of her party alongside the other leaders (including Mr. Duceppe, even though I am not eligible to vote for his party) in order to cast a ballot that is as informed as possible!
I hope that the banning of Ms. May is a poorly executed publicity grab, designed to drum up interest in the debates before "changing your mind" and adding her to the process. I can't think of any other line of reasoning for her exclusion that maintains journalistic integrity (not that it is particularly well maintained in this version). While the Green Party may not hold a seat in Parliament, it does represent almost seven per cent of the voters who turned out for the last election, and current polls show that roughly 10 per cent of Canadians support the GPC.
You have a unique opportunity to influence the outcome of this election, whether that is your intention or not. I'm sure you've heard all of the arguments for including Ms. May in the debate, and I value your time so won't rehash them here. Suffice it to say that if your goal is to allow the Canadian electorate a single forum through which to become well informed on their nationwide options on May 2, then Elizabeth May must be included in the debates.
Please reconsider your choice in this matter, as a service to the democratic process in Canada. Thank you.
Best regards,
Michael Underwood
Calgary AB-----------
Chers diffuseurs,
Je n'ai pas encore décider de mon vote, et je veux entendre ce que Mme May a à dire au nom de son parti aux côtés des autres dirigeants (y compris M. Duceppe, même si je ne suis pas admissible à voter pour son parti) pour d'un bulletin de vote qui est aussi informé que possible!
J'espère que l'exclusion de Mme May est seulement pour la publicité, pour augmenter l'intérêt dans les débats avant de vous "changez d'avis" et l'inclure au processus. Je ne peux pas penser à toute autre ligne de raisonnement pour sa exclusion qui maintient l'intégrité journalistique (non pas qu'il est particulièrement bien préservée dans cette version). Alors que le Parti Vert n'occupe pas un siège au Parlement, il représente près de sept pour cent des électeurs qui ont voté dans la dernière élection, et les sondages actuels montrent qu'environ 10 pour cent des Canadiens appuient la PVC.
Vous avez une occasion unique d'influencer le résultat de cette élection, si telle est votre intention ou non. Je suis sûr que vous avez entendu tous les arguments pour inclure Mme May dans le débat, et je la valeur de votre temps donc je ne les reformuler pas ici. Qu'il suffise de dire que si votre objectif est de permettre à l'électorat Canadien un forum unique permettant de bien se renseigner sur leurs options à travers le pays le 2 mai, alors Elizabeth May doit être inclus dans les débats.
S'il vous plaît réexaminer votre choix dans cette affaire, en tant que service pour le processus démocratique au Canada. Je vous remercie.
Cordialement,
Michael Underwood
Calgary AB
UPDATE: CTV sent me an "Out of Office AutoReply" stating that because of "a large volume of inquiries," they might not be able to respond to my email "personally." I have no idea whether this is their standard response, or if there is an increased volume in response to this issue.