When I first heard that Nils Jensen was being refused entry to the first four NDP leadership debates, I didn't believe it. I told a reporter that the story was too stupid to be true for all the obvious reasons such as denial of natural justice and going against a fundamental sense of what is fair and democratic. Earlier that day I had explained to the CFAX audience that no candidate should be taken seriously who cannot file nomination papers in time to participate in the first debate on Tuesday, September 9th, in Vancouver. Candidates have had since early June, when Joy MacPhail announced that she was not running, to collect and file the required signatures. Jensen did that on Thursday only to be told that in his case it wasn't good enough because he couldn't participate until 60 days after the date he signed a membership card. In other words, it is OK with the party to have his name on the ballot but it is not OK for him to participate in the debate. That is stupid, and unfortunately it is true; at least it was true on Thursday, September 4th.

Exclusion of Jensen is a classic case of unintended consequences. The NDP was embarrassed by various shenanigans during past leadership campaigns, and in order to avert some of those problems the rules for running were made much tougher. Those rules were put in place in January 2003. At that time no one knew that MacPhail wouldn't run, and no one considered the possibility of a new member running for leader. Since those events occurred, it is time to revisit the rules and correct an obvious mistake. If a person hasn't filed nomination papers, there are legitimate reasons to exclude that person from the debates; anyone who has filed should be on the stage with the other candidates as a full participant. The NDP's executive meets on Sunday, September 7th. I have every confidence that the rule will be altered. If it isn't, the exclusion of Jensen should become an issue in the leadership campaign. In my opinion, any candidate who participates in the debates while Jensen is excluded doesn't deserve to be leader.