The Future of Leaders’ Debates in Canadian Federal Elections /

However, in the spirit of Lazarsfeld’s canonical two-step flow theory of communication, legacy and social media coverage of the debates was deemed to be a factor in the campaign, underscoring the political importance of these debates. [...] Thus, while the report has been tremendous- ly enriched by the contributions of all colloquium participants, responsibility for the conclusions drawn and the recommendations made remain that of the authors.2 The Colloquium The opening plenary of the colloquium provided participants with the opportun- ity to reflect on the manner in which debates had been organized for the 2015 election. [...] What was the impact of the elimination of the broadcast consortium and the proliferation of the number and types of debates? [...] Nevertheless, the absence was seen by much of the consortium leadership as a slight; it was also seen as an indication that parties tend to engage on the issue of leaders’ debates only during the run-up to a campaign — seeing the rules governing debates in tactical terms, dictated by the political considerations of the moment. [...] In this light, the disconnect 4 The Future of Leaders’ Debates in Canadian Federal Elections at the colloquium over the status quo issue is particularly revealing: while the gov- ernment has already declared it is moving to the how of reform, many important stakeholders are still debating the whether of reform.