There is a political debate on August 6 that will have serious dialogue on vital issues … that doesn't involve Donald Trump.
While the U.S. election cycle is 5 months ahead of the first primary, the Canadian election is only 2½ months away.
This debate is a Rogers/MacLean's presentation and not part of the broadcast consortium, so Prime Minister Stephen Harper will actually be present.
The debate will air on August 6 from 8-10 pm Eastern on Rogers TV networks, including City TV, OMNI, and CPAC and streamed online on Rogers radio and TV station Web sites, Macleans.ca, Facebook, and YouTube.
There has been a lot of debate about debates in 2015. The Conservative Party, currently in power in Canada, is ignoring the broadcast consortium debates and focusing on smaller, friendlier (to them) debates.
2 of those smaller debates — The Globe and Mail and Google Canada debate and the Munk Debates — have kicked out Green Party leader Elizabeth May. Yes, they are smaller debates in terms of potential audience but they shouldn't be smaller on stage.
The U.S. debate on August 6 will have 10 candidates, while there are 6 official parties with MPs in Parliament. There is plenty of room on stage. Unless there is a shift, there won't be a debate with all 6.
In fact, the August 6 debate will actually have Stephen Harper and Elizabeth May on the same stage, a rare occurrence. While May has been uninvited to those 2 debates, Harper has been invited to every debate, including the broadcast consortium debates. Harper is choosing not to attend them.
We should note that while the tradition of the broadcast consortium debates in terms of a potential audience, the scheduling this time is dreadful. The French language debate will be Wednesday, October 7 from 8-10 pm Eastern. The debate will run at the same time of the final 2 periods of the Montréal Canadiens season opener.
The English language debate is Thursday, October 8 from 6-7:30 pm Eastern. The debate starts at the supper hour in Ontario and Quebec and while people are still working in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. Those in the Maritimes will be done with supper.
The French language debate is longer to accommodate Gilles Duceppe, back as leader of the Bloc Quebecois, who is invited to the French language debate but not the English language debate.
The Munk debates do not have a date at the moment; the Globe and Mail/Google Canada debate will be September 17 in Calgary.
The irony is that the Conservatives are correct on one thing: the Canadian people deserve more debates and ones on specific policies. The economy is the topic of the Globe and Mail and Google Canada debate. The Munk School of Global Affairs debate focuses on foreign policy. However, Elizabeth May, who has something to say on both, isn't allowed to participate.
If you are going to have a sanctioned Canadian election debate, all debates should invite all leaders of recognized parties in the House of Commons. This includes Forces et Démocratie, Bloc Quebecois, and especially the Green Party. Forces et Démocratie is running a single candidate outside Quebec versus 0 for the Bloc outside Quebec. The Green Party is running coast-to-coast.
No party in Canada should be able to decide which leaders can or can't be invited. As for the Conservatives unwillingness to participate in the broadcast consortium, while the move is class-less, you can't make someone show up. But there should be an incentive for political parties not to exhibit such childish behavior.
U.S. viewership
We want to see how many Canadian election debates we can watch in the States. A small handful of people, mostly in the Buffalo area, could watch Thursday's debate over City TV or OMNI 1 and OMNI 2 out of Toronto. You might get the City TV or Omni signal from Vancouver in Blaine, WA.
OMNI has primary signals in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and Vancouver. OMNI 2 is only in Toronto. There is a secondary OMNI signal in Montréal.
The C-SPAN primary channel schedule lists Thursday's debate. C-SPAN traditionally carries the English-language debate from the broadcast consortium for the U.S. audience. We will cover all English language debates as best we can.
We are curious as anyone about Facebook and YouTube and whether that will help those outside Canada tune in to watch. Canadians who live in the States should have a chance to see the debates.
If you have advice, suggestions, or extra knowledge on how to access the debates, feel free to note that in the comments section.
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