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Mulcair has said he won’t take part in any leaders’ debates without Harper, and the party says it told organizers it wouldn’t make sense for Mulcair to take part without the prime minister.

The NDP says Mulcair was the first of the major party leaders to agree in principle to the debate and has been working with Up for Debate, looking for other ways to highlight women’s issues through the campaign.

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Where do you stand on abortion, Mr. Harper? Why does your party have lowest percentage of women candidates running this election? Will you commit to appointing an equal number of men and women to cabinet, Mr. Harper? Why not, Mr. Harper? Mr. Harper?

In declining to participate in the debate, which was being organized by a group called Up for Debate, Harper assured that NDP leader Tom Mulcair would turn down the offer as well. Mulcair had previously agreed to participate in “principle,” whatever that means, but on August 7, said that he would only partake in debates in which Harper would be present.

“It goes without saying that since Stephen Harper is the person I want to defeat and replace, I’ll take part in debates where he’s present,” Mulcair said. “Otherwise it wouldn’t make much sense, would it?”

The debate has since been restructured to focus on interviews with the Liberal, NDP, Bloc and Green leaders, which works out beautifully for Stephen Harper. In theory, the event could have gone on as planned without him (though it probably would have been a lot of Conservative bashing, whether or not he was actually there), but with Mulcair out, there was no point. Now, Mulcair is forced to bear the brunt of the blame — even if the “debate” goes forward with this softened format — which leaves the left alone to eat itself, and Harper to go on his merry way. Thanks, Tom!