Myron Jespersen is having a bad case of political deja-vu.
The Green Party candidate for the Nanaimo-Alberni riding in the current federal election, Jespersen said he finds it hard to believe his party is once again facing the prospect of its leader being shut out of the televised leaders’ debate.
“I can’t believe we are plowing the same ground again,” he said. “It backfired last time on the other parties and I would have thought they would have tried to avoid it.”
The move, he said, is an affront to Canadian democracy.
“We got almost a million votes in the last election,” he said. “Yes we didn’t get a seat, but that’s more a function of the electoral system than the value of the party. To say you can’t have a voice until you have a seat strikes me as a blow against democracy.”
In the 2008 election, May was initially shut out of the debate by a consortium of media, a decision later reversed because of a public outcry. Jespersen said he expects the same to happen again this time.
“Going online, a lot of people are heavily in favour of her speaking at the debate,” he said. “I’m guessing will be a bunch of Facebook and pressure to move in that direction.”
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