OTTAWA—The leaders of five political parties have been invited to participate in two election debates in early October, but the independent commission organizing the events is not convinced that the People's Party of Canada merits an invitation as well.

David Johnston, the former governor general who now heads the independent Leaders’ Debates Commission, painted the party’s election hopes as a long-shot and said it doesn’t currently meet the criteria to take part.

“At this time in the electoral cycle, we do not consider that the People’s Party of Canada has a legitimate chance of electing more than one candidate,” Johnston wrote to the party’s leader, Quebec MP Maxime Bernier.

“The Commission has consulted available opinion polls, riding projection sites and independent pollsters. None of these sources project, at this time, that the People’s Party of Canada has a legitimate chance to elect more than one candidate.”

The leaders of the Bloc Québécois, the Conservative Party, the Green Party, the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party were formally asked to take part by Johnston.

The commission is organizing a debate in English on Oct. 7, and another in French on Oct. 10. It had previously announced that a partnership of media organizations, including the Toronto Star, will produce the televised debates, which will be held in the National Capital Region.

In a statement Monday, the commission said that to take part in the leaders’ debates, a party must meet at least two of three criteria:

Represented in the House of Commons by a member of Parliament who was elected as a member of the party;

Intends to endorse candidates in at least 90 per cent of the electoral districts;

Received at least four per cent of the votes in the last general election, or “based on the recent political context, public opinion polls and previous general election results, the Commissioner considers that candidates endorsed by the party have a legitimate chance to be elected in the general election in question.”

The Bloc Québécois, Conservatives, Liberals and NDP got invitations because they have elected MPs and got at least four per cent of the vote in the 2015 election.

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The commission decided to invite Green Party Leader Elizabeth May because her party has at least one elected MP and says it will field candidates in at least 90 per cent of the ridings.

However the commission has not decided whether People’s Party of Canada meets the conditions. The party was formed after the 2015 election, meaning it can’t fulfil the criteria for elected MP or popular vote. “The party must therefore demonstrate to the Commission that it satisfies the two remaining criteria,” the statement said.

In his letter to Bernier, Johnston said that the commission has reviewed polling information provided by the party but was unpersuaded that the party could elect more than one MP in this October’s federal election.

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However, Johnston did say that this was a “preliminary assessment.” He told Bernier and other parties that were not invited that they can submit further information to make their cases.

In the case of the People’s Party of Canada, the commission asked Bernier to submit a list of three to five ridings where he believes the party has its best chances of electing a candidate.

A final list of invited parties will be published by Sept. 16.