What's a debate if you don't hear from the opposite side?

The Leaders' Debate Commission, the body created to organize two official federal election debates, has made a preliminary ruling that would block Maxime Bernier's participation.

The ruling seems profoundly undemocratic. Nobody wants to see a debate between the leaders of Canada's 16 registered political parties but Bernier's vehicle is clearly more serious than the Rhinoceros Party, with its pledge to privatize the Queen and tax the black market. The debates are a big deal. Four in 10 voters tuned in for part of the debate in 2011, a number that fell in 2015 when the big broadcasters pulled out but which is likely to recover this year now that they are back in.

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