By way of illustration

Following up on this post, let's consider a couple of hypothetical questions about the election which most clearly highlights the absurdity of allowing two party leaders to take the national stage for themselves by choosing to exclude all others from a debate.

Suppose the 1993 election had seen a similar debate procedure, with the Libs and PCs choosing to square off against each other while leaving the NDP, Bloc and Reform out of the picture.

Would the end result then have been that the "real contenders" debate would have been presented an entirely misleading two-way choice, including a party which ultimately wound up in fifth place?

Or would it have been that the seat counts would have changed, as the ideas which in fact won out over those of the PCs were suppressed rather than being compared directly in one of the most important phases of the campaign?

And can either of those alternatives be seen as a remotely acceptable development?