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鈥淭he commission concludes that the inclusion of the leader of the Green Party of Canada in these circumstances would undermine the integrity of the debates and the interests of the voting public,鈥� the commission said in a statement released early Wednesday morning.听

Pedneault said the debate commission鈥檚 decision was unfair.听

鈥淟et me be clear, their last-minute decision to exclude the Green Party of Canada from the leaders鈥� debate is not only unjust and baseless, because we met the criteria, it is undemocratic,鈥� he said. 鈥淪omehow, they decided that what matters most here isn鈥檛 a fair debate. It鈥檚 a debate 鈥� the one that they鈥檙e trying to create 鈥� that protects the status quo.鈥�

Despite the party’s objections, Green co-leader Elizabeth May said there was simply not enough time, after the commission ruled Wednesday morning, to get a case before the courts to get the decision overturned.听

“You can’t put the paperwork together in time before the debate starts this evening. Going to court after the fact is rather moot. We need the decision reversed today,” she said at a news conference in Sydney, B.C.听

The Green Party initially qualified for the debate under a rule that allowed leaders into the debate if their party was endorsing candidates in 90 per cent of the ridings in the country. Parties had until April 1 to submit a list of candidates that met that criteria and the Greens pledged they would run candidates in every riding.

The Greens fell short of a full slate however, registering candidates in only 68 per cent of ridings when the Elections Canada nomination deadline arrived. Initially, the party said it failed to nominate all of its candidates because of issues gathering signatures for nominations, but Pedneault told CBC this week the party also removed candidates for strategic reasons to avoid splitting the progressive vote.

The commission said intentionally reducing the number of candidates reduces the party鈥檚 viability.

鈥淲hether or not the Green Party of Canada intended to run 343 candidates, it has since made the strategic decision to reduce the number of candidates running, meaning that voters no longer have the opportunity to vote for those candidates,鈥� the commission said in a statement.

鈥淒eliberately reducing the number of candidates running for strategic reasons is inconsistent with the commission鈥檚 interpretation of party viability.鈥�

The refers to Pedneault’s remarks about strategic voting, as well as comments from Green Party spokesperson Rod Leggett, who said the rules gave the party “strategic wiggle room” that it was using.听

The commission asked the Green Party about Pedneault’s strategic voting comments and the party said those decisions were made after it submitted a full list of candidates to debate organizers. The Greens told the debate commission they were unable to reach Leggett to get clarity, but said they respected the rules of the debate commission throughout.听

Despite Pedneault’s remarks, May said the party didn’t remove any candidates for strategic voting purposes. She said Pedneault’s comments were a misunderstanding and should not have kept him out of the debate.

“Show us any evidence, find one candidate where they were removed for strategic reasons by the party,” she said.听“They’ll never find any evidence because it didn’t happen.”

The party sent a letter to the commission asking for it to reverse the decision and allow Pedneault back in.听

The debate went ahead with Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Qu茅b茅cois Leader Yves-Fran莽ois Blanchet.

The commission had three criteria for inclusion in the debate, with parties required to meet at least two: having an MP in the last Parliament who was elected under that party’s banner; the party was polling above four per cent in an average of national polls; and the party had endorsed candidates in 90 per cent of ridings.

The Bloc doesn’t run candidates outside of Quebec, but did have 33 MPs in the last Parliament and is polling above four per cent nationally. Blanchet called for the Greens to be excluded in a news conference earlier this week.听

The Liberal party weighed in after the commission’s announcement, saying it believed the Greens should have been included.听

鈥淲hile it is important that all criteria be honoured, we are disappointed in this last-minute decision, and would have supported the Green Party remaining in these debates if consulted,” said spokesperson Jean-Christophe Armstrong.

NDP campaign director Jennifer Howard said her party respected the commission’s decision.听

“As an independent, non-partisan body, it is their job to ensure all political parties follow the same criteria for inclusion in the debates,” she said. “We reject any attempt to undermine or politicize their decision-making.鈥�

The Star has also reached out to the Conservatives, but did not receive a response.听 听

The English-language debate is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday.

The Star will be carrying both debates live on听thestar.com听and the Star鈥檚 app.