Opposition parties agree to two debates on major TV networks
OTTAWA— The game of election debate chicken continues, this time with the opposition parties agreeing to a pair of debates on the major TV networks and the Conservatives snubbing the talks.
The Liberals, NDP, Green party and Bloc Québécois have reached an agreement in principle with the television consortium that has traditionally organized the election debates for a national broadcast with simultaneous translation.
The consortium includes CBC’s French- and English-language channels, Global News and CTV.
The Conservatives were not at a meeting Thursday with the broadcasters. They have agreed — with the NDP — to four other alternative debates with new hosts such as Mac- lean’s magazine and the Munk Debates.
The Tories also emphasized the need for the debates to be available on different broadcasting platforms. The consortium responded to that by announcing a partnership with Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine and YouTube.
Under the TV network agreement, Bloc Québécois Leader Mario Beaulieu would participate in a Frenchlanguage debate only.
“The broadcasters are optimistic that this new proposal will be accepted by the Conservative party,” the consortium said in a statement Thursday.
The Liberals in particular have insisted on pursuing a debate with the consortium, pointing to the wide audience it garners — a total of 14 million viewers in 2011. The broadcast appears on all four channels simultaneously.
“We believe that a debate hosted by the country’s four, national networks is the best way to have as many Canadians as possible engage in the debate process,” the party said.
The struggle over the election debates has been mainly a tug of war between the Conservatives and the Liberals.
The Conservatives kept announcing their participation in new debates, while the Liberals dug in their heels on matchups organized by the major broadcasters.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has yet to say whether he will engage in the four debates that Stephen Harper and Tom Mulcair have agreed to. Conservative spokesman Kory Teneycke was not immediately available to comment.