Bowing to pressure from major Canadian political parties, TV networks excluded Green Party Leader Elizabeth May from television debates. The only party which rooted for May's inclusion was the Liberal Party.

Network officials from CBC, Radio-Canada, TVA, Global and CTV said the leaders of the parties hinted of a pullout if May will be included in the line-up slated Oct. 1 and 2.

NDP campaign spokesman Brad Lavigne pointed to May's endorsement of Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion as the reason why party leader Jack Layton refused to share the stage with May. "We believe that as someone who's endorsed Stephane Dion to be the prime minister of Canada, she has endorsed Liberal candidates throughout the country," Lavigne explained to Canadian Press.

Conservative Party Leader and incumbent Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended May's exclusion because she would be a second Liberal candidate.

May threatened to bring the case to the courts on the second day of campaigning for the Oct. 14 snap polls. "Day 2 of the federal election campaign and democracy is taking a nose-dive... This is anti-democratic, closed-door, back-room decision making by four national party leaders who are all men, and five television executives who are all men, to keep out the one woman leader of a federal political party and I don't think many Canadians will think that was fair," May said in a press conference.