Liberal Party of Canada letter on Munk Leaders’ Debates

September 10, 2015

Today, the Liberal Party of Canada sent the following letter to the Chair of the Munk Debates:

Rudyard Griffiths
Chair of the Munk Debates

Dear Mr. Griffiths:

Thank you for the invitation to participate in the Munk Debate on Canada’s Foreign Policy. Given the current, devastating Syrian refugee crisis, a debate with all Party Leaders on foreign policy could not be more timely.

We have enjoyed the productive conversations our team has had with yours. In response to your proposed format, we are largely comfortable with it, but we have two real concerns with the debate.

The first has to do with our commitment to an equal number of English and French debates over the course of this campaign. We believe in keeping our commitments both regarding debates, and our three point plan for growing the economy. We agreed in principle, under the presumption that this was a bilingual debate; however, this is clearly not a bilingual debate.

The second is that it has come to our attention that the Munk Debate will be charging admission to an exclusive list of Canadians who want to attend. We cannot accept that. The days of political leaders auditioning in front of the country’s wealthiest elite are behind us. Debates should be open to all Canadians, regardless of where they live or with whom they associate.

These are very serious concerns. Our decision to participate in this debate will be contingent on your ability to meet these concerns in a material way.

Respectfully yours,

Dan Gagnier
National Campaign Co-Chair

Katie Telford
National Campaign Co-Chair

CC:
Conservative Party of Canada
New Democratic Party
Green Party of Canada