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Email: "Christian Heritage Party Sues to Open Leaders TV Debates to All Parties"

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BY LifeSiteNews.com  CALGARY, Sept. 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The sixth-largest of Canada’s federal political parties is going to court to ask that all registered parties be included in the leadership television debates next month.Currently there are 18 registered federal parties and one eligible for registration.The Christian Heritage Party applied to be included in the debates after the Green Party was added to the roster. The consortium of broadcasters organizing the debates turned down the CHP’s request Sept. 16, giving no reason.CHP leader Ron Gray, in Ontario on a campaign tour, said today that his party has been asking for ten years for changes to the Elections Act to give first consideration to the right of voters to be provided with adequate information about all options available to them. The Act as written by Parliament focuses instead on the interests of the major parties."A democracy requires an informed electorate," Gray says. "That means they must know about the philosophies and policies of all the parties. Limiting their information to only the biggest four or five impairs the democratic process."The CHP noted that the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2003 Figueroa decision, written by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, stresses the important role smaller parties play an in the democratic process, even if they cannot offer what she called "a government option," by raising issues the major parties may not want to discuss."That certainly applies to the CHP," Gray noted. "Our platform includes many issues the big parties would rather avoid, as well as fresh and innovative proposals on problems they’re still debating in old terms."The Chief Justice, in the Figueroa decision, also stressed the right of candidates to make their policies known, and the citizens’ need to have adequate access to information—points the CHP has been stressing for ten years as a member of the Chief Electoral Officer’s Advisory Committee of Political Parties. http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/christian-heritage-party-sues-to-open-leaders-tv-debates-to-all-parties/

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