Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'll repeat, first of all, something I said earlier, which is that it is clear the networks and television will be less important over time. That shouldn't lead us to think they are not still the single most important source of news at election time, and that's where most of the eyeballs are.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think, as Mr. Reid referred to before, the debates have to become a kind of creative commons, and parties can use them, and news organizations can use them, and they do that within the rules and the mores of our system. I wouldn't go beyond that, but I think they should be generally available.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think the costs of the debates can be borne mostly by the major networks. I think they have done that in the past, and I don't see any reason why that would change.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm sorry. Right.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think many Canadians have shown that these are very important events in making their choices. What I'm arguing for is a continuation of that tradition in a more institutionalized way, because I'm afraid it stands on a rickety basis at the moment. I would hope that it would not in any way disparage political conversations at other levels and I don't see it would need to.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think there should be debates on the major networks in the last weeks of the campaign. There should at least be one debate in each language in the last, let's say, two weeks of the campaign.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  My initial thinking in the wake of the IRPP event a couple of years ago was that it should go under Elections Canada because of the existing structures and for all the reasons that you articulate. I put an “or a commissioner” in my remarks, because to me that's not the most fundamental thing.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I agree.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would be cautious about overly rigid rules for a commission or commissioner ahead of time. Canada's party system is much more fluid than, say, the United States' or Great Britain's. If you look at the list of parties that have been competitive in this country in the last 25 or 30 years, you're at over half a dozen pretty quickly.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Very quickly, I would just say that in each election campaign in this period, we're going to see the broadcast networks becoming less important. There shouldn't be a mistake made that they are not still the central, most important vehicle through which Canadians will access these debates.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Let me address the role of the networks and the notion of it being a condition of licence. The experience we have from the last two elections is that it makes a big difference in terms of audience whether the major broadcast networks are involved or not. I can't repeat everything I've ever heard internally when I was working in broadcasting, but I know that the networks' participation is very much hinged on considerations that have nothing to do with the public interest or the voters' interest.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members. For most Canadians, leaders' debates are as much a part of the election routine as lawn signs and paper ballots. Few likely give a thought to how precarious this important political tradition is. Canadians have watched debates among party leaders in every federal election since 1968.