Canadian Politics

The English-language debates are on right now.

Steve Paiken = best. moderator. ever.

Elizabeth May of the Green Party is winning her party some votes, I tell you. She stood above the fray when Layton, Dion, Duceppe and Harper were all fighting over Harper changing his mind on Iraq. When she was given her time, she summed up what the boys had been squabbling about (because it was kind of unclear, what with Harper denying and Duceppe insisting he admit it and Layton jabbering about something) and then gave her party's position. Well. done.

Gilles Duceppe doesn't let Harper finish answering, but he has a sense of humour (I liked where the "common person" in the video asked a question of the "Prime Minister wannabes" and Duceppe answered that he wasn't going to be PM and neither were 3 others, which is particularly funny since Layton has begun saying "When I am PM...") and he answered questions thoughtfully.

I like the New Democrats and I like my NDP MP, but Layton sometimes chooses untenable positions and then defends them too aggressively. He often attacks vaguely, and then sometimes he seems to pick a tiny (and occasionally inconsequential) little part of something to harp on. And he won't concede anything, which I tend to find weak. However, I do like that he has begun to portray himself as a possible PM. I began voting NDP at a provincial level when Howard Hampton made a statement about the NDP being a good opposition party. I guess he knew it would be a long, long time before Ontario ever voted in another NDP government. Even still, it's a good argument. A good opposition keeps the government honest. Their job is every bit as important as the that of the party in power. Anyway, the point is that by saying he's ready to be PM, Layton is offering the NDP as a substitute for the Liberals. I think some people who might usually vote Liberal will choose to vote Conservative because a) it wasn't all that long ago that the Liberals got turfed and most people remember. b) it's pretty much the same people who got turfed that are running again this time. c) Let's face it: Dion hasn't appeared Prime Ministerial. But if Layton makes people believe that the NDP are ready to fill a larger place in Parliment, then they might get the disaffected Liberal voter's vote.

Speaking of Dion, I don't think he distinguished himself, but he didn't do poorly. I must admit that if I find something embarrassing on TV, I don't watch, which is why I used to watch the first 20 minutes of Frasier, but not the end, which was invariably cringe-worthy. Anyway, I averted my eyes and listened to the debates, mostly. From time to time, I'd look up. Sometimes, I had to plug my ears. You know, I like Dion. But he just makes me want to give him a few pointers. Like he was at this school once, campaigning, and a kid asked him if the attack ads made him feel bullied and what advice would he give to a bullied kid. His stupid answer was that people shouldn't be bullies. Well duh. How about: "Talk to an adult you can trust." or "Call Kids Help Phone." or "You're not alone. You don't have to suffer in silence. You can get help, but you have to tell someone." Honestly. Anyone could have done better. Also, he needs a tutor for English. He kept using "not" in sentences and I bet a lot of anglos were confused. Because in French, you'd use "ne" in there, which sort of translates to "not", sometimes, but not in this case. The Bloc guy speaks better English. Now *that's* funny.

Harper did fine. If I were voting based on Harper's performance in this debate, I'd vote Conservative. This saddens me, because many people will vote based on who looked best in this debate. *sigh*