This petition is directed towards the Munk Debates and respectfully requests them to

1) Release additional tickets for purchase for the Christopher Hitchens/Tony Blair Debate to be held on on Friday November 26th at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Canada at 7:00 pm, or

2) Relocate the venue to host a bigger crowd of attendants due to the "unprecedented demand" for this event.

http://munkdebates.com/debates/Religion

We feel that the Munk Debates has been unfair to the general public by misleading and misinforming them about details relevant to this debate.

The Globe and Mail, Canada's leading national daily newspaper, reported that tickets would be released for sale on October 14, 2010 at 11am. Eager to attend this debate, many lined up expectantly in the hopes of purchasing their tickets online at www.munkdebates.com.

Unfortunately, it appears that Munk Debates released tickets for sale earlier than October 14, on its website at www.munkdebates.com, leading to the event at Roy Thomson Hall to be sold out prematurely due to "unprecedented demand".

In the interest of the general public - hardworking people with a genuine interest in attending a debate attended by some of our leading luminaries, discussing a question as old as humanity itself - we request that the Munk Debates honour its committment to encouraging "a far-ranging discussion on one of humankind’s most vexing questions" by

1) Releasing additional tickets or

2) By relocating the venue for this debate, to accomodate more willing attendees.

Only by taking such steps will the Munk Debates move closer to realizing its vision:

"The goal of the Munk Debates is to elevate and enliven the dialogue of democracy— Canadians’ ongoing conversation about the forces transforming their country and the world—by providing a substantive forum for leading thinkers to debate the pressing issues of our times."

We firmly believe that this act of enlightened criticism will galvanize the Munk Debates to act in a timely fashion. Anything else would add more shame to an event thus far tarnished.

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