On Tuesday, as in years past, Gilles Duceppe invoked his right to participate in the English-language election television debate. His party, the Bloc Québécois, holds seats in Parliament, which is the minimum criterion a party should meet before being included. (It is on this basis that we have supported the exclusion of Green party leader Elizabeth May.)
But just because Mr. Duceppe has a right to be included in the English-language debate doesn't mean that his participation adds any value. His BQ doesn't run candidates outside Quebec. Mr. Duceppe has nothing original to say on national issues. Indeed, he gives no sign he even much cares about national issues, unless he can find some angle to leverage more money or power for Quebec. On Tuesday, he distracted attention from other leaders, who do care about Canada. His interjections had the same effect as advertising breaks during hockey games: Everyone just waited for them to end, so the real action could recommence.
For the other three federalist leaders, the debate is an opportunity to sell themselves to Canadians. For Mr. Duceppe, it's a free podium to advance an agenda for Canada's destruction -a separatist mission that even most Quebecers reject. No one fires back at his propaganda, because there's nothing to be gained and it would just take up time. In the 2008 debate, he appeared witty and personable, even landed a few blows. On Tuesday, after a cheap zinger about Stephen Harper's reluctance to take questions from voters, he seemed to lose interest.
Then again, why should Mr. Duceppe do otherwise? He has nothing to gain by engaging in thoughtful debate, since that would only present the spectacle of a Quebecer operating productively with other Canadian worthies -an image that is anathema to separatists. He benefits most from acting like an impatient and bemused ambassador from another country.
Mr. Duceppe deserves a chance to speak to the voters who actually might vote for him. But that chance comes in the French-language debate. The fact that the Bloc doesn't even bother offering a simultaneously published English version of its party platform shows that the party doesn't care about English voters. Mr. Duceppe shouldn't be wasting everyone's time -including his own -at an Englishlanguage campaign event.