Ontario Greens make push for inclusion into June 3 leaders’ debate

You know you're into the heart of an election campaign, in Canada, when you have that jurisdiction's respective Green Party complaining about being left-out of the leaders' debate.

Welcome to that stage of the Ontario election.

As expected, Green Party leader Mike Schreiner didn't get an invite to the televised forum scheduled for the evening of June 3rd. His party is now making a plea to to both the public and media consortium that snubbed them.

"In the 2007 general election, 354,897 Ontarians voted Green, and another 126,021 did so in 2011. In most democratic systems around the world, these numbers would result in seats in the legislature. In our first-past-the-post system, some voters get more than their fair say, and some get less," Green Party Campaign Chair Kathy Acheson said in a statement.

"The Green Party has run a full slate of candidates since 2007, and has persistently polled between 5 and 10% in the last two years.

"Even without formal representation, our members and supporters have affected public policy and social change through the means available to them, such as petitions, letters, and earned media. Their voices and views should be heard by Ontarians before voters make the important decision of where to put their confidence in the next election."

[ Related: Tories appear to be rebranding Stephen Harper as 'the environmental prime minister' ]

Schreiner's Greens — who have never held a seat at Queen's Park — released their platform last week. Along with a cornucopia of classic Green policies, it calls for the merging of public and catholic school boards, a cut in small business payroll taxes and an increase in corporate taxes by one per cent.

They're still hoping to tout that platform on June 3rd; they're hoping what happened in the 2011 federal election happens here. In that campaign, Green Party leader Elizabeth May was initially excluded from the debate, but was eventually allowed-in thanks, in part, to the ensuing public outcry.

Moreover, leaders of provincial Green parties in BC, New Brunswick, and PEI have also participated in broadcast debates. And lo and behold, last year in British Columbia, the Greens elected their first ever representative to a provincial legislature.

What do you think?

Should the Ontario Green Party be invited to the leaders' debate on June 3rd, or should should these debates be restricted to party's that have a MPP (or MLA or MNA)?

Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Latest Ekos Research Ontario election poll (for iPolitics):

If an election were held tomorrow which party would you vote for?

Liberals: 37 per cent

Progressive Conservatives: 30 per cent

New Democrats: 21 per cent

Greens: 7 per cent

(Photo from Mike Schreiner's Facebook page)

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