OTTAWA, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- A Canadian think-tank is calling for regulating Canadian political debates and excluding leaders with low poll numbers, the Globe and Mail reported Friday.
The Study of Democracy at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, has a 120-page set of recommendations set for release later this month, the report said.
Among its recommendations is a government commission be established to create guidelines for the debates rather than allowing television networks to set the framework.
The center's chairman, Tom Axworthy, told the Globe the group also favors excluding the leader of the separatist Bloc Quebecois federal party from English-language debates, as it only represents one province in Parliament.
"It may be controversial ... (but) it's a perfectly fair and reasonable proposition if you think about it," Axworthy said.
The panel also recommends in the final weeks of the campaign, only the leaders of the top two parties in polls be given air time. The panel's recommendations came out as Canada possibly faces a fall election based on threats of a Liberal non-confidence vote to bring down the minority Conservative government.
