Bloc Cites Rules Against Green Party’s Debate Participation, Says It Benefits Carney

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet speaks in the foyer of the House of Commons following a vote in the House on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 2, 2024. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet says the regulations governing election debates should exclude the Green Party from participating in the upcoming leaders’ debate. He argues the party’s presence benefits the leader of the incumbent governing party.

Blanchet took to social media over the weekend to question the participation of Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault. Aside from Blanchet and Pedneault, Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will take part in both debates.

“I have nothing against the Green Party, but if the rules disqualify it, how can we explain its invitation to the debate?” Blanchet wrote in an April 12 post. “The main effect is to reduce the speaking time of others. Too bad for Pierre Poilievre or me, but so convenient for Mark Carney.”

He said Pedneault’s participation would especially benefit Carney during the French debate because he would have less time to speak. Carney is known to be less proficient in French than the other party leaders.

Blanchet’s post alludes to the Green Party failing to meet the necessary criteria laid out by the Leaders’ Debates Commission, which is hosting the two federal leaders’ debates later this week.

The Green Party criticized Blanchet’s comments in a statement provided to The Epoch Times, and accused the Bloc leader of being afraid to debate Pedneault, a fellow Francophone. It also said it qualifies under the commission’s rules.

“The push to exclude the Greens isn’t new, and it serves a single goal: less democracy and more status quo,” a spokesperson for the party wrote.

“The Green Party has accepted its official invitation to participate. As per the Commission’s rules, the Green Party meets its criteria. Jonathan looks forward to joining the leaders on stage in Montreal so he can present Green policies to Canadians.”

Commission Rules

The Green Party received an invitation on April 1 from the commission’s executive director Michel Cormier to participate in the debates. Parties must meet two of the three criteria laid out by the commission to be eligible to participate, according to the commission’s website.

The Greens had at least one member of Parliament in the House of Commons who had been elected under the party’s banner at the time Parliament was dissolved, and it had also endorsed candidates in at least 90 percent of the 343 federal ridings, Cormier said in the invitation.

To be represented in 90 percent of the ridings, the party would need to have at least 309 endorsed candidates. Elections Canada’s candidate list shows that only 232 Green candidates will be included on the ballots, however.

The Green Party’s chief agent supplied a list of endorsed candidates, the commission said on its website, noting that it determined eligibility for debate participation on April 1—27 days ahead of the April 28 election.

“The onus of proof for this criterion rests with the party and not the Commission,” the commission said. “Given that debates are held well in advance of Election Day, parties were not required to demonstrate that those candidates have been formally nominated with Elections Canada.”

The Green Party has said that although it had 343 candidates, not all of them were able to complete the Elections Canada process successfully. This was partly due to the difficulties associated with collecting signatures in a snap election and inconsistencies in how Elections Canada accepts forms, the party said.

The deadline for candidate nominations was April 7, and the final list was published by Elections Canada on April 9, more than one week after the commission issued the debate invitation to the Green Party.

The party told The Epoch Times it is ready to face off against the other parties during both the French debate, scheduled for April 16 at 8 p.m., and the English debate, which is set for April 17 at 7 p.m. Both events will air from the Maison de Radio-Canada in Montreal.

NDP Leader Singh told reporters during a weekend campaign stop he wasn’t “particularly worried about” the Greens participating in the debates. The Liberals and Conservatives did not respond to requests for comment before publication time.