Federal debate on women’s issues cancelled after Thomas Mulcair backs out

The issue is Harper's' refusal not Mulcair.
Note, Mulcair's tweet was in Nov. /14 when he had every expectation that Harper would appear.

It does not make political sense for Mulcair to appear and allow an opportunity for May and Trudeau to try to score some points while Harper won't participate and be questioned/challenged on his appalling record on women, the cutbacks to women's services and the scandal of the murdered and missing Aboriginal women and why he won't call an inquiry?

Headline inaccurate and misleading, perhaps biased: "Federal debate on women’s issues cancelled after Thomas Mulcair backs out" / should have read: Federal debate on women’s issues cancelled after Harper and Mulclair no shows

Please Stop reporting inaccurate Information. This same story has been reported incorrectly by a number of news outlets, without any difference in wording. Do you bother to check the stories out for accuracy, or is that no longer a part of journalism? Please read this: http://www.elndp.com/blog/were-up-for-debates-and-more

PLEASE READ THIS LETTER FROM NDP HEADQUARTERS and share it with all the people who jump to conclusions without having all the facts. This is a message from National Campaign Director Anne McGrath and was sent out by Lucy Watson who is the National Campaign Coordinator of Canada’s New Democrats.
____________________________________________
Hello everyone,
Given the misinformation circulating about the "Up for Debate" event, I wanted to provide some background and clarification.
The reports today that Tom withdrew from the event or refused to participate are false. Tom confirmed his participation in principle almost a year ago and was the first leader to do so. He has been clear about his commitment to ensuring that women’s issues are at the forefront.
We have always been clear with the "Up for Debate" organizers that we wished to participate in the debate with the other leaders. In one of several meetings to discuss ways to move forward, the organizers seemed to understand that it would not make sense to have the debate without Prime Minister Stephen Harper. During our discussions, we offered several other options in the event that the Conservative refused to participate, including a town hall, a one-on-one interview event, or sending status of women critics.
The biggest problem is that, as a largely unfunded coalition, "Up for Debate" organizers have not been in a position to clarify or respond to our suggestions quickly enough to get the word out that we have been very supportive and have offered several options to highlight women’s issues, including working with them to get some of the issues incorporated into the debates that are now confirmed. The Harper government’s systematic underfunding of women’s organizations means that this is largely a volunteer effort.
We now have confirmation that "Up for Debate" is seriously considering organizing one-on-one interviews with the leaders and we expect that they will make the announcement shortly. We will, of course, participate enthusiastically and with pride.

Finally, I should note that during our meetings with "Up for Debate" organizers, we also took the opportunity to speak to the Party’s deep commitment to women’s issues including attracting a record number (43 percent) of women candidates (significantly more than the other parties), a requirement to support choice in our candidate application forms, a signature platform commitment to childcare with specific reference to the impact on women, a minimum wage commitment, a commitment to reverse the Conservatives' cuts to healthcare, and a pledge to hold a public inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women within the first 100 days of government.
The NDP has a long, proud history of fighting for women’s equality and we will continue to fight to improve the lives of Canadian women and girls in government.
Best,, Anne

Although men make up 49.6 of Canada's population, none of them gave birth to a baby last year. Clearly we need a Government program to fix that horrible inequality. Imagine what it is like growing up as a man, knowing that systemic inequality will mean you never get to have a baby.

As the gov't and the loyal opposition they should be readily available for this forum.