Harper, Mulcair and Trudeau confirm participation in Munk Debates, 2nd French debate

The Conservative,NDP and Liberal leaders confirmed late Tuesday that they would attend the Munk Debates foreign policy-focused bilingual discussion, while a group of Canadian broadcasters announced an agreement had been reached for a second French-language debate.

The French-language debate, slated for Sept. 24 at Radio-Canada's studios in Montreal, will include the Conservative, NDP, Liberal, Green and Bloc Qubcois leaders. The debate will be hosted by a group of broadcasters including CBC, CTV and Global identical to a consortium that had previously proposed both anEnglish and French-language debate, though those proposals had been roundly rejected by the Conservatives.

The Conservatives'decision to participate seems to be a response to an altered format, though how the new format would differ from the earlierproposals was not immediately clear.

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News of the second French-language debatewas preceded by a day of confusion over which leaders would be attendingthe Munk Debates foreign policy discourse scheduled for Sept. 28.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair said Tuesday afternoon that heagreed to a revised invitation from the Munk Debates proposinga bilingual debate, while aspokeswoman forJustinTrudeauannounced soon after that the Liberal leaderwould also participatewith a requestthat Green Party Leader Elizabeth May be included.

Rudyard Griffiths, the debate organizer, reiterated on CBC News Network'sPower & Politics Tuesday night that his organization decided to invite only the leaders of parties officially recognized in the House of Commons. A party must have 12 seats in the House to be recognized.

May has asked to be included.

Finally, in a statement released late Tuesday night, spokesmanKory Teneycke saidthat Conservative Leader Stephen Harper hadaccepted the bilingual format of the Munk Debates.

Confusion didn't end with NDP declaration

The NDP had set Monday as thedeadline to announcewhichdebates Mulcair would take part in. That deadline passed as the party continuedto negotiate with a number of debate organizers, including the Globe and Mail, which is slated to host a debate in Calgary on Sept. 17.

NDP senior campaign advisor Brad Lavigne, however, tweeted late Tuesday that Mulcair would be attending the Globe debate.

Mulcair had earlier insisted that there be an equal number of English and French-language bouts. The decision to take part in the second French-language bout, theMunk Debates discussion and the Globe debatemeans that Mulcair will participate in two English, two French and one bilingual debate.

But the earlier confusion didn't end with the NDP. While a senior adviser to Trudeau had confirmed on Twitter that Trudeau would be at the Munk Debates, he later corrected that, saying he had thought the question was about a debate focused on women's issues known as 'Up for Debate'.

Several Liberals had said as recently as Tuesday morning that the talks with the Munk Debates organizers were continuing.

Who's doing which debates?

• Sept. 17: Debate in Calgary on the economy, organized by the Globe and Mail and Google Canada: Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and NDP Leader Tom Mulcair confirmed. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May not invited.

• Sept. 24: French debate organized by group of broadcasters: Harper, Mulcair, Trudeau, Bloc Qubcois Leader Gilles Duceppe and May confirmed.

• Sept. 28: Debate in Toronto on foreign policy, hosted by the Munk Debates: Harper, Trudeau and Mulcair confirmed. May not invited.

• Oct. 2: Debate on Quebec's TVA network (in French) moderated by Pierre Bruneau: Harper, Mulcair, Trudeau and Duceppe confirmed.

• Oct. 8: English debate organized by the consortium of broadcasters: Trudeau and May expected. Harper has declined. Mulcair unconfirmed. Duceppe not invited.

Green Party snubbed

So far there has only been one debate, in English, which was hosted last week byMaclean's magazine.

The NDP hasagreed to a corresponding French debate to be hosted by Quebec-basedbroadcaster TVA, which will also include the Conservatives and the Liberals.

The Liberals havealso agreed to a proposed debate dedicated to women's issues. The Bloc and Greens have also signed on to'Up for Debate,'the debate on women's issues.

The Green Party was not invited to the Globe or the Munkdebates.