Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair.The Canadian Press
Canada's major broadcasters will host an English-language debate less than two weeks before the election, despite Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's refusal to participate.
The debate will be held on Oct. 8 and will feature NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May. It will be broadcast on CTV, CBC and Global, and will be available on a number of Internet sites. The election will be held 11 days later, on Oct. 19.
The official announcement of the debate confirms that the broadcast consortium has called the Conservative Party's bluff and gone on with the event despite the absence of the incumbent prime minister.
The Conservatives rejected the broadcasters' proposal by saying the debates didn't allow for enough freewheeling exchanges between participants, adding they had concerns about the broadcasters' vetting of audience members.
"As we've said all along, we believe the diversity and innovation inherent in different debate sponsors and approaches is valuable," said Conservative spokesman Cory Hann.
The consortium said the Conservative Party was missing out on the opportunity to reach the widest possible audience.
"The 2015 leaders' debates will have unprecedented reach, and will be offered across all platforms with closed captioning and simultaneous translation," the broadcasters said in a statement on Thursday. "As the negotiations with the invited parties continue, the broadcasters maintain their invitation to the Conservative Party of Canada to participate in the televised debates."
The NDP added: "We remain hopeful the Prime Minister will attend."
The English-language debate has been scheduled outside of the peak viewing hours of prime time, between 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET.
The Bloc Québécois, whose leader was traditionally invited to that debate, will only participate in the French-language debate on Oct. 7. The event – lasting two hours given the presence of a fourth leader – will be shown on the CBC's French-language network, Radio-Canada, and Télé-Québec.
The Conservatives have announced plans to participate in five pre-election debates, including one that will be organized by The Globe and Mail in Calgary.
Mr. Harper will also attend debates in English organized by Maclean's magazine on Aug. 6, as well as an event put on by the Munk Debates. He will appear on a French-language debate organized by Quebec's TVA Network, featuring a series of individual face-offs between party leaders.
The Conservatives have yet to announce the second French-language debate in which Mr. Harper will participate.
To this point, the Liberals and the New Democrats have confirmed their participation in the Maclean's, TVA and consortium debates, with the NDP having agreed as well to participate in The Globe's debate.
Discussions between the parties and the organizers of various proposed debates are ongoing.