Last night I spent two hours watching the Canadian federal leaders debate. Now we were really looking for a fleeting glimpse of our future Prime Minister son in the audience. He was the sixteen-year-old who looked like he had just won the lottery in the front row! But I also took a few things away from it that I never realized before. I thought I would share them in case you didn't watch.
Whoever decided that the leader of the Bloq Quebecois, Yves Francois Blanchett, should be on the stage was 100% wrong. This party is only running candidates in Quebec and their main focus is on separating from Canada. So why give him a countrywide platform? To spread their hatred for the rest of the country? To let him talk about Bill 21 that is hate-filled and racist? It was disgraceful. However....it does show how confident we are in our freedoms to allow a party based on separation to exist. But Mr. Blanchett should have stayed home.
Jagmeet Singh is fun. He was very natural and more laid back so to speak than the others. I could almost believe his answers were unscripted, though I doubt that was the case, and his one on one debates showed his ability to throw a punch or two. Of course, he had the sound bite of the night with "Mr. Delay & Mr. Deny". That was laugh out loud funny. I'm not sure if he garnered any votes last night but he certainly didn't lose any.
Andrew Scheer is not the world's greatest speaker. And he didn't seem to want to answer any questions but was very good at insulting Trudeau. But we aren't Americans and that doesn't necessarily go down well with Canadians. We are a polite country remember? He seems to have forgotten that his party was in power for twelve years and a lot of what he was talking about not being done was under a PC Prime Minister. That's a political trait, not just one for their leaders.
Elizabeth May is.....well she is Elizabeth May. She is animated, two-topic focused yet and easy to dismiss. She might be the savior of Canada and the air we breath if we stopped and listened. I believe she should not be running the country but she sure as hell should have the head of the table chair when it comes to combatting climate change. Both here and abroad.
Prime Minister Trudeau was his normal calm relaxed self that comes from years of practice. But he's not a good debater. A good speaker yes but not a debater. Sometimes all I heard was blah blah blah. No substance. Oh wait that could go for several of them. He will probably be re-elected in two weeks but I'm thinking not as easily as last time. Last night certainly did him no favors.
I've left Maxime Bernier for last for a reason. Blanchett is a separatist and proudly states it. He hides behind nothing and is brutally honest in what he wants for "his people" and "his Quebec". But Bernier...he is sneaky. He is a racist and wants no more immigrants admitted into Canada. Yet he doesn't say that. Not really. He wants immigration but with very stringent rules and a cap. Bernier even went to far as to say that immigrants should take on "our Canadian values". Mr. Bernier with all due respect your Canadian values are not mine. Nor are they the ones most Canadians live by. You are exploiting people's fears and prejudices and trying to become a northern Trump. Again we are not Americans and we will not stand for your hate.
There you have it. My humble take away from last night. Though I will share with you the true winner of the debate....my son. He was excited, overwhelmed and in awe. He told me he never imagined being in the same room, and in the front row no less, with the five leaders of our political parties and that he would remember this night forever. That sounds like a clear win to me!
Ang
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