First off, I won't fully disagree with Mr. Burman's comments on that. I've been involved in lots of debate negotiations not only at the federal level but at the provincial level as well. I would say that the front-running party in the election often has the hammer in terms of how they get pulled to the table or not, or they perceive that they have the hammer because their participation is key. They're the ones that are either going to go up or down following the debate, and they have wielded that hammer to the best of their ability.
To the point about the exclusion of smaller parties, it is not simply a function of the parties involved. It's a function of us as well who have worked at times to exclude smaller parties. We want debates that work well on television. We want debates that don't become a cacophony of arguing. We want debates that are simple for the viewer to comprehend. We understand that we have obligations in terms of how we cover news, and we want to ensure that we give proper coverage to smaller parties elsewhere.
However, I wouldn't say it's only a function of the major parties that have worked to exclude the smaller parties. Certainly, it's part of it.