Letter to Green Party Friends and Supporters,Today's decision by the broadcasting consortium is an inexcusable mistake and a slap in the face to all those who care about democracy and freedom of speech in this country. They have bowed to crass partisan politics from three other federal parties. Elizabeth May deserves to be in the included in the nationally-televised leaders' debates. She has jumped through every hoop that has barred her way and she still is being kept from presenting the Green platform to a national audience by the Conservatives, NDP and Bloc.
The Green party is a truly national party that has run candidates across the country for the past two elections. We have a sitting MP. We had the support of nearly 700,000 Canadians in the last elections and are polling at over one million votes in this election. There is no logical reason why Elizabeth May and the Green Party should be kept out of this important national forum.
No other party has been as successful as the Green Party and still be blocked from public national debates. In 1993 the Reform and Bloc Parties were included in the debates with only one MP and no official party status. Neither ran candidates across the country. There is no precedent for this private decision to exclude the Green party from the leader's public debate. In fact, all the precedents support our inclusion in this public forum. . Partisan politics has kept her out, this is an insult to the Green party and called the fairness of the election into question.
It is so important for Elizabeth May to be present at the debates. The majority of Canadians make their voting decisions based on them. The Green party needs your help to remedy this situation. We need you to write, call and contact the Broadcasting Consortium and tell them they are wrong. Tell them that Canadians deserve to hear the voices of all national leaders.
Most importantly, you should phone, fax or email the party leaders who kept Elizabeth May out of the debate. Make them accountable for this outrageous, antidemocratic act.
| Stephen Harper: Conservative Party of Canada Election Headquarters #1204 - 130 Albert Street Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 5G4 Toll free: (866) 808-8407 Phone: (613) 755-2000 Fax at: (613) 755-2001 Email: pm@pm.gc.ca | Jack Layton: Canada's NDP 300 - 279 Laurier West Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5J9 Phone: 613-236-3613 Toll Free: 1-866-525-255 Fax: 613-230-9950 TTY: 1-866-776-7742 Email: Layton.J@parl.gc.ca | Gilles Duceppe: Bloc Québécois 3730, boul. Crémazie Es Montréal (Québec) H2A 1B4 Téléphone : 514 526-30 Télécopieur : 514 526-2868 Email : Duceppe.G@parl.gc.ca |
| Constituency Office 1600 - 90th Avenue SW Suite A-203 Calgary, Alberta, T2V 5A8 Telephone: (403) 253-7990 Fax: (403) 253-8203 | Constituency Office 221 Broadview Avenue Suite 100 (Main Office) Toronto, Ontario; M4M 2G3 Telephone: (416) 405-8914 | Constituency Office 1200 Papineau, # 350 Montreal, Québec; H2K 4R5 Telephone: (514) 522-1339 Fax: (514) 522-9899 |
| Hill Office House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario; K1A 0A6 Telephone: (613) 992-4211 Fax: (613) 941-6900 | Hill Office House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A Telephone: (613) 995-7224 Fax: (613) 995-4565 | Hill Office House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A Telephone: (613) 992-6777 Fax: (613) 954-2121 |
You can visit http://demanddemocraticdebates.ca to sign a petition to pressure the Broadcast consortium to make sure that Green Party leader Elizabeth May is included in the leaders' debates. You can also let the broadcast consortium know of your disagreement by contacting them at:
| John Cruikshank, Publisher, CBC news (416) 205-6300 |
| Robert Hurst, President of CTV News 416-332-5000 |
| Troy Reeb, Senior Vice President of News Canwest Global (416) 967-1174 |
| Pierre Dion, President, Groupe TVA Inc. 514-526-9251 |
| Ronald Cohen, National Chair, Canadian Broadcast Standards Council P.O. Box 3265, Station D Ottawa, ON K1P 6H8 613-233-4607 |
| Glenn O'Farrell, President and CEO, Canadian Association of Broadcasters P.O. Box 627, Stn. B Ottawa, ON K1P 5S2 613-233-4035 ext: 326 |
Talk to everyone you know about this important subject and make sure they get involved in supporting the Green Party's fight. A complaint has been filed to the CRTC and Legal proceedings to overturn the decision have already started. These initiatives can only be strengthened by your support. The Green Party has retained the best lawyer in Canada in this field to represent the party in court. The Green party is legally and politically required to be in these debates.
We urge you to act immediately to right this wrong.
PROTECT OUR DEMOCRACY, PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO A FRIEND.
No comments:
Post a Comment