Evidence of meeting #79 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was political.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Allen Sutherland  Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government, Privy Council Office

1 p.m.

Liberal

Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON

You're being very suggestive right now.

1 p.m.

Conservative

John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON

Okay, so let me say, then, that your concern is that it wasn't broadcast on CTV, CBC, and Global. That's your concern.

1 p.m.

Liberal

Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON

It wasn't widely distributed or broadcast on national broadcasters—

1 p.m.

Conservative

John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON

So had those other three—

1 p.m.

Liberal

Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON

—which was very different from previous national debates, which we saw had a much higher viewership than all of the debates in 2015.

1 p.m.

Conservative

John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON

In your opinion, then, national leaders' debates should be broadcast on CBC, CTV, and Global.

1 p.m.

Liberal

Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON

My objective is to see national leaders' debates broadcast as widely as possible, whether that's on traditional broadcasters, new media, the Internet, on your phone, or whatever the case may be. It's to make it as publicly accessible as possible for people to view and engage and interact in that political process.

1 p.m.

Conservative

John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON

Okay, so what prevented CBC from picking up the feed from the last election's leaders' debates?

1 p.m.

Liberal

Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON

Do you know, Allen?

1 p.m.

Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government, Privy Council Office

Allen Sutherland

You'd need to talk to them.

1 p.m.

Liberal

Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON

Yes, you'd have to ask them. Hopefully they're on your witness list so that you can ask them.

1 p.m.

Conservative

John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON

I believe the answer would be “nothing”. They simply didn't take up the feed. It was generally available.

You mentioned that you believed perhaps one sitting MP should be enough to trigger participation, or 5%. How would you determine that 5%?

1 p.m.

Liberal

Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON

Do you mean the 5% of the national vote?

1 p.m.

Conservative

John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON

Would it be from the last election or from opinion polling?

1 p.m.

Liberal

Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON

It's been done before.

1 p.m.

Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government, Privy Council Office

Allen Sutherland

It's been done before.

1 p.m.

Liberal

Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON

Both of those things have been criteria for participation, but I'm open to hearing feedback on that.

I do think there is an important role for political parties to participate, and we see that parties of different sizes also play an important role in the national dialogue and discourse.

1 p.m.

Conservative

John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON

Some countries have multiple debates, including what might be called a “duelling round” in which only the top two parties may debate. Is that something you would endorse?

1 p.m.

Liberal

Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON

It's something on which I would be open to hearing feedback and suggestions from this committee and from the witnesses who participate.

Again, as I've said numerous times today, I don't see the commission or the commissioner as limiting the amount or the format or the style of debate, but as ensuring that there are debates that happen and providing the criteria for participation.

1 p.m.

Conservative

John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON

Then in theory you would be okay with a commissioner who could schedule three, four, five, or six debates. Would that be something you could conceivably envision?

1 p.m.

Liberal

Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON

I think what we want to do is provide the parameters for what participation looks like, for how it's distributed, for what the objectives are, and then provide some flexibility for the commissioner to work with stakeholders, which includes political parties, broadcasters, and perhaps academia and civil society, to design what that looks like in the course of an election.

1:05 p.m.

Conservative

John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON

We all know the structures they have in Australia and Germany, and you mentioned the United States, Canada, and New Zealand. They all have slightly different approaches, and it's all being done effectively at arm's length from the government.

We all think about this on a daily basis. I'm sure we have ideas.

What country do you think does debates best, in your personal opinion?

1:05 p.m.

Liberal

Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON

I think every country probably does something that's right for them. I think that in Canada we've actually had some very good leaders' debates, and we've seen different models. What's most important to me is that we create something that's going to be flexible enough to adapt to changing times, while still ensuring this is part of the process and is accessible for Canadians.

1:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Larry Bagnell

You have 10 seconds.

1:05 p.m.

Conservative

John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON

Thank you, Minister.