Canadians will have their say on who should lead the nation on Sept 20th but many undecided voters were probably left confused on who to vote for from the first and only English debate held on September 9th in this election cycle. A format that required short answers from the leaders and heavy involvement from the moderators did not let each leader explain effectively their vision for the future. At times high profile journalists from the nation’s mainstream news outlets were debating the leaders themselves, leading to some of the most contentious moments of the night. The leaders clashed over their different platforms on climate change, reconciliation, feminism and cost of living. Below is a quick analysis of how each politician came across.
Leaders’ Performance:
PM gets attacked on pushing out two strong female cabinet ministers
Justin Trudeau: As expected, Trudeau was attacked on his record and the call for election. At times the Prime Minister seemed a little jumpy and off balance when trying to respond to the attacks he was getting from all sides. The Green Party leader Annamie Paul attacked Trudeau for not being a feminist for his role in pushing out two female cabinet ministers during the SNC-Lavalin affair, while NDP leader Jagmeet Singh attacked Trudeau on his record on both climate change and reconciliation. The basis of each attack was why call an election promising to deliver on policies that could have been accomplished in the last 6 years of the Liberal government. Trudeau did his characteristic side stepping and talking around the issue while trying to keep his head above water. Overall Trudeau did not do well in this debate and is likely hoping that media will not spend too much time on his performance less than two weeks from election day.
Tory Leader plays it safe
Erin O’Toole: O’Toole has proven to be moderate in policy, tone and personality. He definitely tried to remove himself from social conservatism. The topics of the debate were not in the Conservative leader’s wheelhouse but he did manage to challenge Prime Minister Trudeau on a few issues. Inflation was brought up and O’Toole clearly laid out that the liberals had no concrete plan to tackle it. However, his views on tackling climate change did not make too much sense as he claimed that he could both reduce emissions while increasing investments in fossil fuel extraction Overall the Conservative leader played it safe and mild mannered on the debate stage. With his lead in the polls this may have been the best course of action for him.
Blanchet asks adversaries for help in translation
Yves-Francois Blanchet: English is Bloc Quebecois leader’s second language and it clearly showed in this leaders debate. At times Blanchet was even asking for help from the other leaders to translate words into English, in a rare moment of cooperation between adversaries. A moment that stood out and played into Blanchet’s favour was when moderator Shachi Kurl challenged him on supporting “discriminatory” bills 96 and Bill-21. Blanchet did his best to seem offended by the question and continued to cover these bills, which many see as xenophobic under the guise of secularism. French-Canadian media loves to feel persecuted and have already ran with this story allowing for some positive momentum for the Bloc Quebecois on a night where their leader was mostly an afterthought.
The NDP leader questions Liberal broken promises
Jagmeet Singh: Singh had some fiery exchanges with both Trudeau and O’Toole and made some clear distinctions between the two front runners and the NDP. Calling out the Liberal leader’s record on both climate change and reconciliation, questioning how Canadians can trust the Prime Minister after so many broken promises. At times Singh did seem a little over eager often ignoring or talking over Green Party leader Anammie Paul which will not gain him favours in progressive circles. The NDP leader probably did enough to keep his standing in the polls and not lose vote share to the liberals. However, it is unlikely the party will see a bump in support from this debate performance alone.
The Green party leader resurrects her image after her summer inter-caucus turmoil
Annamie Paul: If there was one leader who benefited the most from both the last two nights debates it would be Green Party Leader Annamie Paul. Coming across mature, intelligent and conciliatory Paul has done a good job rehabilitating her image from a summer of inter-caucus turmoil. The Green party leader emphasized the need to work together on issues like climate change and reconciliation and did not partake in some of the mud slinging that the men on stage were indulging in. There should be some upward movement for the Greens after these debates but it will likely not translate into a significant increase in seat count.
Midpointe’s winners and losers
Winners: Slight advantage to Green Party leader Annamie Paul as she gains more recognition on stage.
Losers: Justin Trudeau, but mostly the undecided voter at home as the format did not allow for many pressing issues to be addressed
Stay tuned for more analysis of the election campaign.
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