Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault takes part in a television interview with Radio-Canada in Montreal on April 3. The French debate is on April 16, while the English debate will take place April 17.Mathieu Catafard/The Canadian Press
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet has criticized the Green Party’s participation in this week’s federal election debates, saying that it should not qualify and that its appearance benefits Liberal Leader Mark Carney.
In a post on X, Mr. Blanchet questioned the Greens’ invitation.
“I have nothing against the Green Party, but if the rules disqualify it, how can we explain its invitation to the debate?” he said in French on Saturday. “The main effect is to reduce the speaking time of others.”
He said this would affect him and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, but would also benefit Mr. Carney during the French debate.
The Green Party’s Elizabeth May, however, said her party qualified under the rules of the Leaders’ Debates Commission and accused Mr. Blanchet of being afraid to debate her co-leader, Jonathan Pedneault.
The Greens were invited April 1 to the debates because they met two of the three criteria set out by the commission.
The Greens met the requirement of having at least one member of Parliament in the House of Commons who had been elected under the party’s banner at the time Parliament was dissolved. The party had also endorsed candidates in at least 90 per cent of the 343 federal ridings – or at least 309 endorsed candidates – 28 days before the election.
However, the candidate list from Elections Canada indicates there will be only 232 Green candidates on ballots. Candidate nominations closed on April 7, and Elections Canada posted the final list on April 9.
In a statement last week, the Leaders’ Debates Commission said the Green Party still qualified.
The commission said that a list of the endorsed candidates was provided by the chief agent of the party. It added that it made its decision on who qualified for debate participation on April 1, 27 days before the April 28 election.
“The timelines were set to ensure that the debates producer has sufficient time to produce a debate of high quality,” the commission said.
A page about debate participation criteria on the commission’s website also notes that, given the debates are held “well in advance” of election day, the “parties are not required to demonstrate that those candidates have been formally nominated with Elections Canada.”
Ms. May said in an interview that the party had 343 nominated candidates, but not all successfully completed the Elections Canada process, in part because of the challenge of gathering signatures in a snap-election scenario.
“I’m not criticizing Elections Canada, but a lot of returning officers made different and sometimes inconsistent decisions about accepting forms and signatures,” she said.
She added that including parties that have a seat in the House of Commons is a long-standing tradition that predates the Leaders’ Debates Commission.
When asked about Mr. Blanchet’s criticisms, Ms. May said that Mr. Pedneault will be a second Quebecker on stage, which may be making Mr. Blanchet nervous. Mr. Pedneault will be as tough on Mr. Carney as any of the other leaders, she said.
The French debate is on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET, while the English debate will take place Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. Both will be held in Montreal.
Mr. Carney, Mr. Blanchet, Mr. Pedneault, Mr. Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will each participate in both debates.
At a media availability Sunday, Mr. Singh said he’s not “particularly worried about” the Greens participating in the debates, and added he is more focused on the choice Canadians have to elect more New Democrats.
The Liberals and Conservatives did not reply to a request for comment.