Ok, I’m laying out my views on how the Canadian Leader’s Debate. Who won, who lost , who was treading water, who came off looking a little insincere and who just didn’t show up!
First off, my pick for the winner of the debate: Ms. May.
Why she’s the winner in my opinion. She had the most to prove, and she proved it well. Ms. May had very sensible and well thought out points to make, and at times seemed to be the only person who could penetrate Mr. Harper’s sense of cool. She grilled him on economics, and took a very bold stand on the war in Afghanistan ( she is the only leader who suggested Canada stay until the job is done right - although how the job would be done in her opinion was a more strongly unified and humanitarian presence by Canadians and the world.) In my opinion Ms. May fought to be in the debate and then in a calm , even and intelligent tone proved to Canada she deserved to be taking part.
The loser of the debate? I’ve had a little trouble deciding. While I’d like to fault Mr. Dion for failing to appear or have any sort of meaningful presence, or for seeming to be beaten into a pulp by Mr. Layton, I can’t as my ire falls more directly on his left-side opponent.
Oh, Mr. Layton, how you disappointed me. How many times can the Federal NDP leader drop Tommy Douglas’ name in a single debate? How about actually offering alternatives to what you attack in your debate Mr.Layton? It’s one thing to spend every camera moment you have staring longingly into the homes of Canadians, but you won’t win a Prime Minister role on good looks and Tommy Douglas alone. Coming across as a bully who was more interested in attacking the Liberal and Conservative leaders than offering Canadians any insight into how you’d actually run the country is a little silly. Ok, it’s a lot silly. It’s great to say that you’re going to kick the boardroom table out parliament and bring in the kitchen table, but how? How are you going to do it ? In future spend less time trying to assault others credibility and more time building your own. Eventually, as the population ages, the voting public is going to forget who Tommy Douglas is, and Kiefer won’t fit well into campaign promises about health care.
So, we have established my picks for winners and losers. Now let me round out the middle three. I’m going to have to put Mr. Harper in second place. Not because I’m from Alberta. I have no pre-disposed love for Mr.Harper, and his comments about art and artists and ordinary people stood unjustified last night when he was challenged on it. Further proving that the arts are not a priority for Mr. Harper. Even still, he seemed capable of providing a response to any attack made towards him, and never became flustered. Although he might lose points for that silly grin he seemed to sport through the entire debate.
This leaves us with third place. This is where I place Monsieur Duceppe. He is charismatic, well dressed, well thought and always makes his points timely and directly. He even cracked a joke when one questioner ( which, of course, where predominantly eastern Canadian) asked the leaders what the first thing they would do as Prime Minister would be. Monsieur Duceppe remarked that he would never be Prime Minister, and he knew it. He quickly added that 3 other people around the table would also never be prime minister, as he gazed at the opposition around the table. Hilarious. Huge points.
So that brings us to Mr. Dion, who as I see it, only escaped being the loser of this debate because he was pathetic in a way that made you feel sorry for him. Not to mention his seeming monumentally less douchey that Mr.Layton. Other than that, I haven’t much to say about Mr. Dion, as he really didn’t have a presence in the English debate as far as I saw it.
All in all, we can assume one thing from whoever ends up running the country; some one won’t like him.
-Ben
