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Excluded Green Party leader Elizabeth May to live tweet responses during Thursday federal debate

Elizabeth May will air live responses to federal debate through Internet

Federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May is taking to Twitter as a solution to her exclusion from the upcoming Globe and Mail Federal Leaders' Debate.

May plans to post her live responses to the election topics via Twitter during the debate, which starts at 5 p.m. (PST) Thursday (Sept. 17) in Calgary.

“Canadians want to hear about issues that matter to them and our partnership with Twitter Canada makes that possible.”

Despite the Green Party running a full slate of candidates in all but two ridings across Canada, May, who is bidding for re-election as the incumbent Saanich Gulf Islands MP, was not invited to participate with the leaders of the NDP, Liberal and Conservative parties.

“The Green Party’s use of Twitter and other forms of social media are examples of the increasing use of social media to further grassroots democracy,” May said.

In the past, Macleans magazine and the three major television broadcasters each invited May to participate in their debates. The Bloc Quebecois were also overlooked by the Globe and Mail for the debate.

During the debate, May will respond to questions posed by the moderator (editor in chief David Walmsley of the Globe) in real-time through a Twitter video feed.

Twitter’s news and politics manager, Steve Ladurantaye (a former Globe and Mail reporter) will be on hand as May launches live video and tweets from the First Met United Church at 932 Balmoral Ave. in Victoria.

The Green’s Esquimalt Saanich Sooke candidate Francis Litman will host the evening while the debate is shown live.

The hope is national and regional media will report on May’s responses during the debate.

reporter@saanichnews.com