The final national debate among federal party leaders is tonight, but neither of the Green Party's co-leaders will be represented.
Neither the Green's Jonathan Pedneault nor Elizabeth May was in the nationally televised French debate last night, either.
Instead, the debates feature Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and the Bloc Québécois’ Yves-François Blanchet.
Earlier, on the day of the Wednesday debate in Montreal, the Leaders' Debate Commission announced it had rescinded the Green's invitation to participate in the two debates.
The commission is an independent government agency created in 2018 to hold two debates per federal election. Since its creation, it has hosted leaders’ debates for the 2019 and 2021 federal general elections.
"The commission was guided by these principles in setting the participation criteria for the 45th general election, including criterion (iii): '28 days before the date of the general election, the party has endorsed candidates in at least 90% of federal ridings," reads the commission's press release.
The Green Party does not currently have enough candidates running in the upcoming election to qualify, the commission said, and thus was disqualified from participating.
"The commission concludes that because the Green Party of Canada has intentionally reduced the number of candidates running in the election for strategic reasons, it no longer meets the intention of the participation criteria to justify inclusion in the leaders’ debates," the release states.
"Whether or not the Green Party of Canada intended to run 343 candidates, it has since made the strategic decision to reduce the number of candidates running, meaning that voters no longer have the opportunity to vote for those candidates. Deliberately reducing the number of candidates running for strategic reasons is inconsistent with the Commission’s interpretation of party viability."
Lauren Greenlaw, who is seeking to be member of parliament for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, criticized the move to exclude Pedneault, who was set to represent the party, but said she wasn't surprised.
She said her party followed the rules and accused the commission of “moving the goal posts.”
She sees it as an example of yet “another example of how our government works to silence the voices of those demanding systemic change.”
"The removal of Jonathan Pedneault, co-leader of the Green Party of Canada, from the leader's debate series is completely unfair, anti-democratic and, from my experience of the system: unsurprising," she said in an email to The Squamish Chief.
"Given the strong lobbyist presence on Parliament Hill, knowing the 'revolving door' relationship between industry and government, and understanding the systemic issues that the Green's are challenging—[for example] ending the subsidization of fossil fuels, introducing regulations to reduce the hyper commodification of housing, and restructuring taxation to benefit people over billionaires and big corporate interests—one must question: Who does this decision serve? Certainly not the citizens of Canada. Canadians deserve to know that there are other options out there," she added.
"Excluding the prominent and important voice of the Green Party co-leader is a great disservice to the Canadian people who rely heavily on the leadership debates to form their voting opinion. There are strong, passionate, dedicated Green Party candidates across the country who want to help build a resilient economy, protect our natural assets and reform government for the people, and we are given a fraction of the opportunity to advocate as the major parties, and indeed lobbyists, are."
The final 45th General Election Leaders' Debate is tonight, April 17, 2025, at 7 p.m. EDT, 4 p.m. PST.
