May assembled hundreds of supporters at a Victoria church where she videotaped short statements for distribution through her Twitter account.
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She continued to mock the makeup of event on Twitter.
“I think (the Globe and Mail debate) is a way for providing some cover for Stephen Harper for refusing to attend the real debate”, said May.
The sort of exposure a national debate can provide is crucial to the Green party in its bid to build on a parliamentary beachhead of two seats. “Harper, with all due respect, that isn’t true,”‘ she acknowledged.
It’s crunch time for federal party leaders in Calgary ahead of Thursday’s debate on the economy.
Despite May’s exclusion, Sean Humphrey, the Globe and Mail’s vice-president of marketing, has defended the debate’s format.
The Globe and Mail-hosted debate in Calgary comes on the heels of news that the government posted a surprise $1.9-billion surplus in 2014-15, bringing the country’s books back into balance a year earlier than expected.
The argument made by editors at The Globe and Mail for including only Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair in the debate is that they want to have a focused discussion about the state of the national economy.
May grabbed headlines for turning to social media in a bid to become part of the discussion – at least online, if not on stage.
Whether the line was something Harper had prepared or just said off the cuff, one-liners are an essential part of a leader’s tool kit leading up to debates, as they can serve to crystallize complex policy ideas in a way that stick in people’s minds. May also says she would make apprenticeships in the trades more accessible.
May also said: “We must invest in Canadian youth and the skills, training, and education that is necessary to create jobs”.
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Without a moderator of her own, May was free to volunteer as much – or as little – information as she chose about the Green Party’s own fiscal plan.
