Leaders' Debates Commission invites leaders to the next leaders' debates
OTTAWA, ON, April 1, 2025 /CNW/ - The Leaders' Debates Commission has invited the leaders of five political parties to participate in the upcoming leaders' debates, resting its decision on the participation criteria released on January 14, 2025.
The leaders of the following registered political parties are invited to participate in both leaders' debates taking place at the Maison de Radio-Canada in Montréal, Québec on Wednesday, April 16 at 8 p.m. EDT (in French) and Thursday, April 17 at 7 p.m. EDT (in English):
- Bloc Québécois
- Conservative Party of Canada
- Green Party of Canada
- Liberal Party of Canada
- New Democratic Party
In order to be invited by the Commission to participate in the leaders' debates, a leader of a registered political party had to meet two of the following criteria:
(i): on the date the general election is called, the party is represented in the House of Commons by a Member of Parliament who was elected as a member of that party.
(ii): 28 days before the date of the general election, the party receives a level of national support of at least 4%, determined by voting intention, and as measured by leading national public opinion polling organizations, using the average of those organizations' most recently publicly reported results.
(iii): 28 days before the date of the general election, the party has endorsed candidates in at least 90% of federal ridings.
Four parties qualified under criterion (i) and criterion (ii). Each was represented in the House of Commons and received a level of national support of at least 4% in public opinion polls. For the decision rationale of criterion (ii) published on March 7, 2025, please refer to Participation Criterion (ii) Approach for the Next Leaders' Debates.
- Bloc Québécois (5.554%)
- Conservative Party of Canada (36.877%)
- Liberal Party of Canada (42.985%)
- New Democratic Party (8.738%)
One party qualified under criterion (i) and criterion (iii). It was represented in the House of Commons and submitted to the Commission a list of endorsed candidates in at least 90% of federal ridings.
- Green Party of Canada (343 candidates / 100%)
Although the People's Party of Canada qualified under criterion (iii) (342 candidates / 99.7%), it did not meet either of criterion (i) or (ii) for its leader to be invited to participate in the debates.
For detailed information on the poll results and lists of candidates endorsed used for the final decision rationale, please refer to Party leaders that meet participation criteria for the Leaders' Debates for the 45th General Election.
Website:www.debates-debats.ca
Twitter: @debates_can / @debats_can
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Invitation letter to the Bloc Québécois
Invitation letter to the Conservative Party of Canada
Invitation letter to the Green Party of Canada
Invitation letter to the Liberal Party of Canada
Invitation letter to the New Democratic Party
About the Leaders' Debates Commission
The Leaders' Debates Commission is an independent and impartial public body mandated is to organize two leaders' debates in each federal general election that are in the public interest, one in each official language, while paying special attention to Canada's Indigenous languages. The Commission is responsible for setting out production, promotion, and distribution requirements for the leaders' debates, while respecting journalistic independence for the content of the debates as well as setting participation criteria for the debates.
SOURCE Leaders' Debates Commission