At Issue: The debate over debates

Canada's next federal election is coming,so The National's At Issue panel weighed in on the topic of leaders' debates.

Peter Mansbridge, CBC's host of the panel,was joined by regularsAndrew Coyne,Chantal Hbert and Bruce Anderson for adiscussion onhow many leaders'debates should there be, what format should they take andwho should be allowed to participate.

In recent federal election campaigns, there has been one debate in English and one inFrench,but there are no firm rules asthe format and timing arenegotiated separately each time by the parties and the broadcasters.However, some recent media stories have suggested the Conservatives and NDP might be in favour of adding more debates.

Pollster Bruce Anderson of Abacus Datathinks theNDPmay want additional debatesto display more of leader ThomasMulcair. He alsobelieves the Conservativesthink holding more will take Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau off the campaign trail for additional days,but he doesn't think the Conservativeswill ultimately go for it, because adding debates opens incumbent Prime Minister Stephen Harper up to more risk.

Postmedia/National Post columnist Andrew Coynethinks the public wins if there are more debates.

"A lot of the ills of the debates that we have now is that we only have the one [in each official language], soeveryone is absolutely wired," he said. "The stakes are so enormous, the press treats it like a prize fight. There is very little opportunity to get any kind of depth."

Watch the full segment above, and findmore stories and features from The National here.