How about a real leaders debate?

Well bully for Elizabeth May.
Initially, the Green Party leader was left outside of the federal leaders' debate like she had a shiny red nose and she just wanted to play some reindeer games.
But Donner and Blitzen (aka Stephen Harper and Jack Layton) decided to let her play after taking a tonne of flak for the decision to boycott the debate if she was allowed in.
The Green party went on the defensive big time when this started, calling it unfair and undemocratic to exclude May from the debates.
Yes, that assessment is correct but it's also hypocritical.
The Green party has argued that it is not fair for it to be excluded from the debate. However, it seems to have absolutely no qualms about leaving out the other parties that have also never had an MP elected under their banners. You don't hear May claiming that she should be joined on stage by Miguel Figueroa, who, I might add, has been a party leader longer than any of the five main national leaders.
No, at some point, the TV viewers of the nation deserve to hear from the following leaders:
‰ Liz White, Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada;
‰ Gilles Duceppe, Bloc Quebecois;
‰ Connie Fogal, Canadian Action Party;
‰ Ronald Gray, Christian Heritage Party;
‰ Figueroa, Communist Party of Canada;
‰Harper, Conservative Party of Canada;
‰ Barbara Wardlaw, First Peoples National Party of Canada;
‰ May, Green Party of Canada;
‰ Stephane Dion, Liberal Party of Canada;
‰ Dennis Young, Libertarian Party of Canada;
‰ Blair Longley, Marijuana Party of Canada;
‰ Anna Di Carlo, Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada;
‰ Francois Yo Gourd, neorhino.ca;
‰ Layton, New Democratic Party;
‰ Sinclair Stevens, Progressive Canadian Party;
‰ Douglas Christie, Western Block Party.
These are the 14 officially registered parties for this election and their leaders.
Sure, a forum with every single party leader seems unwieldy and impractical but I think I've got an idea to make it work.
First, under my plan, there will be three instead of two events.
The two existing debates, with the question/answer and back-and-forth formats will continue. However, there will be a set of criteria used to determine which of the party leaders actually gets to participate. The criteria are as follows:
1. The party received a minimum of five per cent of the vote in the previous election;
2. The party had an MP at the start of the election;
3. The party ran candidates in at least 95 per cent of all of the ridings in the last election, which, for now equals 293.
To gain entry to the two regular debates, the leader's party must meet two of those three criteria. Under this format, Harper, Dion and Layton all qualify by meeting all three criteria. Also getting in the door are Duceppe, for meeting criteria No. 1 and 2 and May for meeting No. 2 and 3.
For the third event, there would be no head-to-head debating. Instead, the forum would consist of opening remarks by each leader, a chance for each leader to answer 10 questions submitted via the Internet by the public and chosen by the broadcasters, and a closing statement.
This forum would include all leaders, no matter the size of party, giving all of the parties a fair shot at being heard by the public. And this would air on all of the major networks.
Plus, to ensure its legitimacy, all 14 party leaders would be required to attend barring severe illness or family emergency and in those cases the party would have to send its designated deputy. There would have to be severe punishments set up (large fines or forfeit of a seat) to ensure that no party just chose to ignore the forum. To be legitimate, all parties would have to be present.
I know this is probably just a pipe dream for now but it would be nice to see every political stripe get a chance to be heard. That's just not going to happen right now.

Jason Small can bee reached at 691-1255.