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It is understandable that media outlets would want to feature one of their own, but the election will take place in 10 provinces and three territories

There’s something else that may strike you as noteworthy, though, and maybe just a little bit insulting if you’re not from that privileged, overindulged strip of the country that stretches all the way from the shores of Lake Ontario to the banks of the Ottawa river, a few hours’ drive away. Eminent and qualified as the moderators may be, most are also deeply embedded in the news and public affairs bubble that hovers over the country’s capital and its biggest city (Friesen is a geographic exception, as she broadcasts from Vancouver). If you live in Edmonton, Regina, Halifax or St. John’s, these aren’t people you’re likely to meet on the street or catch in a local broadcast studio.

Again, there is no crime in that. Ottawa is the country’s political core, Toronto its commercial and financial centre. There’s a lot of news of national importance generated in the corridor connecting the two, so it’s natural there would also be a heavy concentration of media there, of all varieties.

Yet, should the concentration be so intense that it excludes almost the entire rest of the country? It would appear that in devoting its efforts to finding five impressive women — which isn’t really that hard to do — the organization in charge of producing the debates forgot about the vast reaches of the country that aren’t Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. That is, everything in Canada that isn’t just like them.

That organization is the Canadian Debate Production Partnership, which includes Global News, CBC News, CTV News, the Toronto Star and HuffPost Canada. A keen eye will note that the five moderators are all drawn from the staff of these outfits. Similarly, the journalists chosen for the French-language debate, with one exception, all work for Quebec members of the partnership.