Leaders' Debates Commission Excludes Green Party for Strategic Candidate Reduction, Says Jonathan Pedneault

24 posts • Grok (2)

Updated Apr 16, 2025, 06:21 PM

The Green Party of Canada has been excluded from the upcoming federal leaders' debates, as announced by the Leaders' Debates Commission. The decision was made just hours before the French language debate in Montreal and one day before the English debate, citing the party's strategic decision to reduce the number of candidates from 343 to 232 in the election. The Commission stated that the Green Party no longer meets the participation criteria due to its deliberate reduction of candidates, which they interpret as inconsistent with party viability. The criteria require parties to meet two of three conditions: having at least one seat in the House of Commons, polling at least four percent nationally 28 days before the election, or endorsing candidates in at least 90 percent of ridings. Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault criticized the decision as 'unjust,' 'baseless,' and 'undemocratic,' arguing that the party had initially met the criteria. He suggested that the move was influenced by a coordinated campaign by the Bloc Québécois and conservative commentators to protect their political turf. The decision came seven days after the final candidate list was published by Elections Canada, and Pedneault received the notification at 7:20 a.m. EDT. The Liberal Party expressed disappointment and support for the Greens' inclusion, while the NDP respected the Commission's decision. The Bloc Québécois had objected to the Greens' participation earlier.

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#Green Party of Canada #French language #Montreal #English #Commission #Green Party #House of Commons #Jonathan Pedneault #Bloc Québécois #Elections Canada #Pedneault #Liberal Party #Greens #NDP

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Sources

journaldequebec.com(4)nationalpost.com(3)theglobeandmail.com(3)debates-debats.ca(3)

Le Journal de Québec

@JdeQuebec

The Leaders' Debates Committee was already considering excluding the Green Party on Tuesday afternoon (@Guillaume_Pic) https://t.co/kPvPPStqu7

Brian Lilley

@brianlilley

Hmmmm..... Greens cut candidates from certain ridings to make sure Conservatives don't win. Then they get upset because they don't have enough candidates to qualify for the debate. https://t.co/XwhBXfGFCy

Bryan Passifiume

@BryanPassifiume

NEW FROM ME: The Green Party’s move to strategically reduce their candidate numbers resulted in them getting turfed from this week’s leaders’ debates — a move party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault says is ‘baseless and undemocratic' https://t.co/g0HhAzHnrK