Methinks many Canadians wholeheartedly agree and that Johnston and his cronies made a huge faux pas last month and are backtracking bigtime today N'esy Pas?
Maxime Bernier invited to participate in official commission debates
1369 Comments
David Raymond Amos Surprise Surprise Surprise
Adam Osborne Like the PPC or not, they are on the political landscape and Maxime deserves to make his case for the Canadian voters just like May.
David Raymond Amos Reply to @Adam Osborne: Methinks many Canadians wholeheartedly agree with you sir and that Johnston and his cronies made a huge faux pas last month and backtracking bigtime today N'esy Pas?
Aaron Barton I'm voting Scheer, but Max is the only one that is right on immigration. Qualified people as needed, not random over immigration like Justin is doing.
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @Aaron Barton: Methinks many agree that Maxy Baby may win at least 20 seats and perhaps even leave the NDP in the weeds as the 4th party N'esy Pas?
Robby Kingstown I support this decision because I support a fair democratic process.
Up if you agree. Down if you don't.
Moot Boomer Reply to @robby kingstown: let all the parties in then. 20+ podiums should be fun
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @Moot Boomer: I concur
Scott Stewart
Bernier speaks for the silent majority
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @Scott Stewart: Methinks at least Johnston and his cronies know that they are not so silent N'esy Pas?
Jason Martin
Reply to @David Raymond Amos: Please stop saying "methinks" and "N'esy Pas". It reads ridiculously and you do it with every post.
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @Jason Martin: Methinks you Anglo dudes forgot to ask me if I cared about what you think of my fun mixing old English and with Chiac because you don't even bother to read what is within the first and last words N'esy Pas?
Jack Deamittors
will Trudeau show up for the English debate??
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @jack deamittors: Methinks it won't matter much because the sneaky lawyer Maxy Baby will decimate them all within the French one anyway N'esy Pas?
Graham Greene
Good news. Welcome to the legit debates, Max!
John Brown
Reply to @Graham Greene: Welcome to the jungle.
Ed Munn (FrogLips1)
Reply to @Graham Greene: The only reason you're excited about this is because you know it could affect Scheer negatively. The reason you're saying legitimate debate is because you're a liberal partisan and if Trudeau didn't show it can't be legitimate.
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @Graham Greene: Methinks we should welcome to the part of the Circus under the not so legit big tent N'esy Pas?
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @Ed Munn (FrogLips1): Cry me a river
Maxime Bernier invited to participate in official commission debates
People's Party leader was not included among initial invitees
Maxime Bernier, leader of the People's Party of Canada, raises his thumb at the launch of his campaign Sunday, August 25, 2019 in Sainte-Marie Que.\ (THE CANADIAN PRESS)
The official Leaders' Debates Commission has decided to invite Maxime Bernier, leader of the People's Party of Canada, to participate in the English and French debates that will be televised next month.
"You have satisfied me that you intend to field candidates in 90 per cent of ridings and, based on recent political context, public opinion polls and previous general election results, I consider that more than one candidate of your party has a legitimate chance to be elected," David Johnston, the former governor general who leads the commission, wrote to Bernier on Monday.
Bernier was not initially included among the leaders invited to participate in the debates. Instead, he was asked to provide more information as the commission considered his case.
The commission's two debates will be hosted by a partnership of media organizations, including the CBC. The English-language debate will be broadcast on the evening of October 7. The French-language debate will occur three days later on October 10.
David Johnston, the former governor general who was appointed to lead the commission, extended invitations last month to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Green Leader Elizabeth May and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet.
The commission was charged with considering three criteria as it decided on a final list of debate participants: whether a party is represented in the House of Commons by an MP who was elected as a member of that party; whether a party is planning to run candidates in at least 90 per cent of ridings; and whether a party has a "legitimate chance" of electing more than one MP.
To be included in the debates, a party must satisfy at least two of those criteria.
Bernier and the People's Party have nominated candidates for more than 90 per cent of the country's 338 ridings, but the party has not yet elected an MP under its banner (Bernier was elected as a Conservative MP in 2015).
That left the commission to decide whether the People's Party had a "legitimate chance" of electing multiple MPs this fall.
"At this time in the electoral cycle, we do not consider that the People's Party of Canada has a legitimate chance of electing more than one candidate in the next federal election," Johnston said in a letter to Bernier in August.
Bernier was invited to submit to the commission a list of three to five ridings where the People's Party had a chance at success.
In addition to Bernier's riding of Beauce, the commission reviewed opinion polling results for the Ontario ridings of Nipissing-Timiskaming, Etobicoke North and Pickering-Uxbridge, and the Manitoba riding of Charleswood-St.-James-Assiniboia-Headingley.
The results of those riding-level polls, conducted for the commission by Ekos, showed that between 24.5 per cent and 34.1 per cent of respondents said it was "possible" that they would vote for the People's Party candidate.
According to a separate analysis, drafted by Nanos Research for the commission, it's possible for a party to win a riding if a quarter of voters there are willing to consider voting for the party's candidate.
The only reason you're excited about this is because you know it could affect Scheer negatively. The reason you're saying legitimate debate is because you're a liberal partisan and if Trudeau didn't show it can't be legitimate.