TORONTO -- Five of Canada鈥檚 political parties will be represented at September鈥檚 federal election debates, however the People鈥檚 Party of Canada (PPC) Leader Maxime Bernier will not be taking part, after the PPC fell short of the four per cent threshold of public polling needed to qualify.

The Leaders鈥� Debates Commission announced its decision Saturday .

The for federal election debates is set by the Leaders鈥� Debates Commission and this election parties must meet at minimum one of the three requirements:

  • They must be represented in the House of Commons by at least one MP elected under the party banner  on the date the election is called
  • They must have won at least four per cent of the national vote in the 2019 election
  • They must show they receive at least four per cent national support, five days after the election is called as measured by public polling, using an average of leading national public opinion polling organizations

The Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, Bloc and Greens have all met the criteria, and were invited to participate in the debates in letters sent August 16.

The NDP and Green parties have sent acceptance letters, which are posted on the Commission鈥檚 website.

Bernier scraped by to enter the 2019 federal election debate after Commissioner David Johnston reversed a preliminary ruling disqualifying the PPC for not meeting the then-criteria.

Bernier, who is no stranger to controversy, attended Tuesday鈥檚 鈥淯nmask the Children Rally鈥� in Etobicoke, Ont., and said his campaign hopes to anger over major issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic response and immigration.

encapsulate that core campaign messaging with the slogan 鈥渢he other options suck.鈥�

The French-language debate is scheduled for Sept. 8, from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT and the official English leaders' debate is scheduled for Sept. 9 from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. EDT at the Canadian Museum of History.

The debates will be produced by a coalition of media outlets, known as the Debate Broadcast Group: CTV News, CBC News, APTN News, Global News, Radio-Canada, L鈥檃ctualite, Les coops de l鈥檌nformation, Le Devoir, Noovo and La Presse.