The value of a vote: How your vote influences election campaign debates
The last time I talked about the value of a vote, I discussed how voting influences the makeup of legislatures, who governs, and whether a party can earn the opportunity to express their views in government via Question Period.
Beyond those points, individual votes and support can affect the ability for a political party to express their ideas at the national level, specifically through debates.
How does one's vote influence a debate?
At the federal level, there are certain conditions that determine eligibility to participate in nationally-televised leaders debates. Firstly, a given party must have at least one MP at the time that the Parliament is dissolved for an election. The party must also hold at least 4% support in national polls, while the final condition takes the form of a requirement for the party to register candidates in no less than 90% of Canada's 343 ridings.
To participate in debates, parties must prove that they meet two of the above conditions. As long as parties are able to prove this at least 28 days before the vote takes place, they will receive an invite from the Leaders' Debate Commission, a committee solely dedicated to putting together the debates that federal party leaders take part in during election campaigns.
It's possible to infer that one's vote directly influences the first condition. Because people vote for their riding's representative/Member of Parliament, not the Prime Minister directly, they can (in some cases) be voting to give their party a chance to be represented at the national level. Ensuring that parties can satisfy the representation condition not only represents another chance for the party to offer their ideas on key policy issues to the public, but it also serves as a positive for Canada's political diversity.
Is there an example of parties not being eligible to participate for certain eligibility reasons?
In the last federal election, the Green Party found themselves on the wrong side of the regulations regarding participation in leaders debates.
Initially, the Leaders' Debate Commission permitted the party to take part in the election campaign debates, citing the seats held in the House of Commons and the fact that the party registered candidates in all 343 ridings. That said, the Green Party was only able to confirm 232 of those 343 candidates in the lead-up to the April 7 Elections Canada-imposed deadline to register to run. As a result, the committee withdrew debate eligibility for the Green Party.
Though there was an attempt from party leadership to clarify the situation, the commission ultimately decided to exclude the Green Party from the debates as they had not adhered to two of the three eligibility criteria.
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