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LETTERS: Play ball leaders

How unfortunate that Tom Mulclair has chosen to follow in the track of Stephen Harper in refusing to participate in the consortium debate.

How unfortunate that Tom Mulclair has chosen to follow in the track of Stephen Harper in refusing to participate in the consortium debate.

What does it say about Mulcair’s potential as a national leader – about his ability to uphold Canadian values in foreign relations, or to defend forward-looking policies at home – when, in the very first moments of the election campaign, he caves in to Harper’s example and refuses to play ball with the other leaders unless the Big Conservative Bully plays too?

This is not a game of course. And Mulcair’s arrogance in suggesting that it’s not worth his time to debate just with Trudeau and Elizabeth May is an insult not just to the other leaders but to the people of Canada as a whole. Could Mulcair be fearful of weaknesses in NDP policies that a debate among moderates might reveal, which would be masked by the overwhelming presence of Harper on the stage?

Certainly Mulcair’s decision proves how right Justin Trudeau has been, in his wariness of coalition overtures.

Happily in South Okanagan-West Kootenay, our Team Trudeau Liberals have a candidate -- Connie Denesiuk – who looks forward to turning up at all the debates across our huge riding, rain or shine, whether other candidates appear or not. That’s what democracy is all about.

Barbara Lambert

Penticton