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Invitation letter to the Liberal Party of Canada

August 16, 2021

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau
Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada

Dear Mr. Trudeau,

On behalf of the Leaders' Debates Commission, I hereby invite you to participate in the two leaders' debates we are organizing during the upcoming federal election campaign. The debates producer will be in touch to finalize the details of the debates on September 8 and September 9, 2021. 

As stated in my June 22, 2021 decision setting the criteria for the Leaders' Debates for the 44th General Election, in order to be invited by the Commission to participate in the leaders' debates, a leader of a political party must meet one of the following criteria:

  • (i): on the date the general election is called, the party is represented in the House of Commons by a Member of Parliament who was elected as a member of that party; or
  • (ii): the party's candidates for the most recent general election received at that election at least 4% of the number of valid votes cast; or
  • (iii): five days after the date the general election is called, the party receives a level of national support of at least 4%, determined by voting intention, and as measured by leading national public opinion polling organizations, using the average of those organizations' most recently publicly-reported results.

Your party meets criterion (i) and criterion (ii). 

Please note that the Leaders' Debates Commission will be compliant with COVID-19 public health measures in place at the time of the two debates. These measures will be communicated to you in advance.

The Commission will make its final decision and invitations with respect to which political parties meet the debate participation criteria no later than August 21, 2021, which is six days after the date the election was called. A party not invited will have an opportunity to ask the Commission to reconsider within two days.  The Commission will make its final decision with respect to any such party within three days of that party's application for review.

The Order in Council requires that we make public this invitation as well as your response to it.
The Leaders' Debates Commission is looking forward to your participation in these debates, which play an essential role in the health of Canada's democracy.

Yours faithfully,

David Johnston

Date modified: August 16, 2021