For immediate release

April 12, 2011

Whether to laugh or to cry, that's the main question in the televised leaders' debates for the federal election, according to Canada' citizens movement for electoral reform.

"How can a party that got almost a million votes in the last election not be represented in these debates?" asks Bronwen Bruch, President of Fair Vote Canada. "Where is Elizabeth May and the Green Party?"

"Of course the real tragedy," she adds, "is that a party with almost 7% of the votes doesn't have any elected MPs. And it's our winner-take-all voting system that is a farce."

The Green Party of Canada received 937,613 votes in the last federal election in 2008, which was 6.78% of the total votes cast. In a strictly proportional system, they would have elected about 20 Members of Parliament, according to Fair Vote Canada, which promotes the principle of proportional representation but does not endorse any political party. May has been denied a spot in the leaders' debates by the broadcasters' consortium because the Green Party did not have a sitting MP at the time of dissolution.

"Proportional voting is designed to ensure that every vote counts," said Bruch,"and that all voices are heard. How can voters make up their minds when they are not allowed to see all the leaders? Canadians need more viable political choices."

"The televised debates have become an essential and integral part of the electoral process in Canada", adds FVC Executive Director Wayne Smith. "Their format can no longer be left up to negotiations between the political parties and the broadcasters' consortium. There must be a clear set of rules, and they should be run by an independent body such as Elections Canada. The debates must be designed and run for the benefit of the voting public, not to suit the agenda of any political party or any broadcaster. There should be a more extensive series of debates."

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Contact:
Wayne Smith
Executive Director
Fair Vote Canada
416-407-7009
Wayne.Smith@FairVote.Ca