Greens held back some candidates despite giving full slate to debates commission

Darren Major · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 15, 2025 4:34 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

The Green Party says it deliberately didn't tally candidates successful immoderate ridings, adjacent though the enactment submitted a afloat slate of imaginable candidates to the committee liable for organizing the enactment debates.

The enactment isn't moving nominees successful over 100 ridings, and Green Party Co-Leader Jonathan Pedneault told Radio-Canada last week that immoderate of this was deliberate. He said his enactment made a "strategic decision" not to tally candidates successful ridings wherever they deliberation Conservatives would apt win. A party spokesperson told CBC News that different candidates had occupation filing with Elections Canada.

One of the criteria to look astatine this week's leaders' debates is that a enactment runs successful 90 per cent of ridings. It is not yet wide if the Green Party held backmost candidates successful capable ridings to enactment them beneath the 90 per cent threshold. 

The Elections Canada filing deadline was April 7, but parties had to taxable their slate of candidates to the national debates committee a week earlier.

Rod Leggett, a enactment spokesperson, told CBC News the discrepancy was partially owed to immoderate nominees having issues with section Elections Canada employees known arsenic returning officers.

"Elections Canada is simply a top-notch predetermination absorption body, recognized crossed the globe. But astatine the section level the Green Party has experienced higher levels of issues than successful the past," Leggett said successful an email.

The enactment said it was moving to find however galore candidates were deliberately dropped versus however galore had issues with signatures.

The Elections Canada Act requires a campaigner to stitchery 100 signatures from voters successful their riding successful bid to register. Leggett said Green candidates had occupation verifying information signatures due to the fact that immoderate returning officers didn't person an updated database of electors.

WATCH | Pedneault says having each parties astatine debates 'benefits Canadian democracy': 

Elections Canada said the Green Party has been successful interaction with concerns implicit the information process and is looking into the matter. But an Elections Canada spokesperson said the database of candidates is present "final" and suggested timelines mightiness person been an issue.

"While it is regrettable that immoderate candidates were incapable to fulfil the provisions of the enactment to go a candidate, we powerfully promote candidates to taxable aboriginal and prosecute their section returning office," the spokesperson said successful an email.

"Returning officers enactment with prospective candidates to marque definite their nominations are complete, but issues identified adjacent the adjacent of nominations supply constricted clip to person them corrected."

The different large parties person practice successful astir each ridings.

With candidates moving successful 232 of the 343 national ridings, Pedneault is inactive acceptable to enactment successful this week's enactment debates.

The Leaders' Debates Commission, which is tasked with organizing the French and English debates, has defended its determination to invitation the Greens up of the information deadline, saying it needed clip to signifier the debates.

Pedneault told reporters Monday that helium should beryllium included successful the debates adjacent though his enactment has a smaller slate of candidates.

"I deliberation it simply benefits Canadian ideology to person the Greens astatine the array and person arsenic galore voices to statement the aboriginal of our country," helium said during a quality conference.