Ontario Green party lobbies to be included in televised leaders’ debates

Ontario Green party Leader Mike Schreiner is lobbying to be included in this fall's televised leaders' debates in advance of the Oct. 6 provincial election.

The party has forwarded an open letter to CBC, Global TV, TVO and CTV pleading its case.

"One of the cornerstones of democracy is an informed electorate, and voters have every right to hear from every major party on issues that matter to them," states the letter.

"In electing Elizabeth May as the first Green MP earlier this year, Canadians have clearly shown that they want Green party values and policies represented in Canadian politics.

"While there are certainly other means of promoting our message during the campaign, the televised leaders debate remains one of the most high profile events of the provincial election."

Even though the Greens don't have a seat in the Ontario Legislature, they argue their record in 2007 merits inclusion. In the last provincial election, the party finished with 354,897 votes with 18 second- and third-place results.

They also cite precedence in other jurisdictions - B.C., P.E.I, and New Brunswick - where broadcasters have allowed Green leaders to debate.

The party has also set up a website where it's asking visitors to sign a petition in support of giving Schreiner the right to participate. To date, they have 1,021 signatures.

Federal Green party Leader Elizabeth May showed her support for her provincial counterpart Thursday with a tweet:

"Sign the #GPO petition to get @MikeSchreiner in the #onpoli debates!" she wrote.

You'll recall that May went through a similar exercise in April when she was excluded from the two federal leaders' debates primarily because her party didn't have a seat in Parliament.

The federal Greens got more than 120,000 names on their petition but to no avail.

Schreiner is hoping for a more favourable outcome.

(Screen shot from: http://www.gpo.ca/)