We’re IN!
Elizabeth May on CBC Radio One - Calgary
I’ve been involved in four elections as a Green so far, and I have to say that I have a weirdly confident feeling about this election. The Greens are getting pretty good coverage nationally, and in our riding. We’ve (just) gotten into the national debate. People are asking, left, right, and centre for Green signs. In Ottawa-Centre, we’ve already gotten more volunteers than we had last election.
Congratulations to everyone who sent an email, made a call, and signed the online petition. You’ve shown that the electorate can take on a media consortium, and can make politicians do the right thing.
Photo Credit: ItzaFineDay.
Footnotes
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dwarf (back)
Wow, I’m surprised that worked. Could have been better set up, but you can’t argue with success.
Some things I was thinking of:
Broadcast leaders ‘debates’ (I use the term lightly) have become pretty important to elections. Why do *media executives* and major parties get to decide who is in the debate? Why is the debate run by the media at all? Large networks are hardly disinterested parties, yet they get to frame the questions and context. The debates should be run by a citizens organization. I believe the presidential debates in the US used to be run by the League of Women Voters until Ross Perot managed to squeeze in there, then the Democrats and Republicans took it over. That shouldn’t happen in Canada.
Why aren’t there explicit rules about who gets to debate and who doesn’t? This should never have been a judgment call. Would this sort of media pressure have worked if the Green leader wasn’t a woman (for example)? Explicit rules should be written down, publicized and formally agreed to by all existing parties. For example: % of vote and/or total seats and even how those seats were gotten.