Greens not taking part in leaders debate

It's hard being the leader of a small party.

You have to constantly prove the to the world that you are a real party, a real option in the general election. You have some minor success, sure - a Grit backbencher defects and gives you a solitary seat in the house; you get invited to the leaders debate.

But by-and-large you get no respect. The Tories ignore you. The Liberals and NDP distrust you. Even the Bloc, which is almost vilified in English-speaking Canada, gets more respect than the greens.

And even though you grind and canvass hard for that 6.8 percent of public support, this doesn't translate into seats in Parliament. Any seats in parliament. Not under the first-past-the post system we live under, where the winner of the riding has to win more votes than anyone else.

And in a final blow, they overlook you for the leaders debate. According to the Globe and Mail, Elizabeth May and the Green party will not be taking part in the upcoming leaders debate.

The consortium of TV broadcasters which put on the debate have apparently decided to leave her out. The other parties told the Globe that they will not be disputing the decision. The article didn't mention whether they were tittering maliciously when they gave over this information, but I can picture it.

I feel this is a little like sabotage for the greens. No, they did not win any seats last time around, but keeping them out of the leaders debate makes it harder for them to reach voters. And that makes it even more likely that they won't win a seat this time around.

Also, I think the TV broadcasters haven't got the right to make that decision for Canadians. It's not exactly controlling who we can vote for, but it does sort of show us that some options are taken more seriously than others.

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