In a democracy like ours, you’d normally seek to add up voices, not subtract them.

But these days in Quebec politics, some parties are sadly denying a significant portion of our province’s population access to the relevant information they need to make sound decisions ahead of this fall’s general election.

As if their vote didn’t matter. As if they were not even worth the effort, for a few hours one single evening, of debating in their language issues that matter to them — of talking to them directly, basically.

That’s the message that some major provincial parties have sent to Quebec’s English-speaking community by refusing to take part in the official leaders’ debate that a consortium of English-language media — including The Gazette — was seeking to organize this fall.

A disappointing, deplorable decision that impoverishes a democratic process which should be as inclusive as possible, especially at a time when voter turnout is, election after election, becoming a growing concern.

Last spring, the consortium sent out a formal invitation........

© Montreal Gazette