OTTAWA, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- A Canadian think-tank is calling
for regulating Canadian political debates and excluding leaders with
low poll numbers, the Globe and Mail reported Friday.
The Study of Democracy at Queen's University in Kingston,
Ontario, has a 120-page set of recommendations set for release
later this month, the report said.
Among its recommendations is a government commission be
established to create guidelines for the debates rather than
allowing television networks to set the framework.
The center's chairman, Tom Axworthy, told the Globe the
group also favors excluding the leader of the separatist Bloc
Quebecois federal party from English-language debates, as it only
represents one province in Parliament.
"It may be controversial ... (but) it's a perfectly fair and
reasonable proposition if you think about it," Axworthy said.
The panel also recommends in the final weeks of the
campaign, only the leaders of the top two parties in polls be given
air time. The panel's recommendations came out as Canada possibly
faces a fall election based on threats of a Liberal non-confidence
vote to bring down the minority Conservative government.