Green party leader Jim Harris is calling on his supporters to tell the government and networks to stop excluding his party from televised election debates.

In recent campaign stops and in a Sunday interview with CTV Newsnet, Harris urged Canadians to insist that control of the debates be shifted to a non-partisan body such as Elections Canada.

"Five (network) executives are making a decision about what our democracy will look like and sound like, and I think that hurts democracy in Canada," said Harris, whose party earned the support of more than four per cent of Canadians in the 2004 election.

"I think that hurts freedom of speech. I think that hurts this election. I think that hurts voter turnout."

The party has already launched a petition on its website in support of Harris' participation in the debates.

The first of the four debates is to be held in Vancouver on Dec. 15. The five networks broadcasting the events are CBC, CTV, Global, Radio-Canada and TVA.

Support for the Greens jumped from less than one per cent in 2000 to 4.3 per cent in 2004, enough to qualify for annual federal funding. However, no Green candidate won.

Harris believes that being involved in the debates is essential for the party, which is running candidates in all 308 ridings, to make a national breakthrough.

"Being included is important because ... it says the party is serious, and being excluded says the party is not serious," he said.

And while Harris called the party's exclusion "undemocratic," he stopped short of committing to legal action.

Green policies

Harris' Greens take a strong stance for the environment while promoting policies that are fiscally conservative. On Sunday he slammed Canadian politicians for being overly concerned with the findings of the Gomery Inquiry, saying a much bigger national scandal is Canada's lack of adherence to the Kyoto Protocol guidelines on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"The … Liberals say they are committed, but instead of reducing greenhouse gases by six per cent, they have gone up by more than 20 per cent under the Liberals," he said. "Nobody is talking about the accountability to future generations."

Harris also stated that his party would ban the seal hunt, promoting sustainable industries such as eco-tourism instead.

Despite what he considers lack of fair coverage, Harris believes his party's message is getting through to many Canadians.

"At a time when dissatisfaction with the old line parties is at all time highs, that's a perfect opportunity for the Green Party," said Harris, saying his party's website received more than one million hits per day during the last campaign. "Canadians are hungry for what we have to offer."