I enjoy political debates unlike most people who would rather get on with their lives. But I鈥檝e always had a fascination with opinionated discussions, so the English language debate on Monday, October 7 became an irresistible, but guilty pleasure.
Yet, there were no clear victors during this political event with top dogs Mr. Scheer and Mr. Trudeau acting like teenagers in an undergrad political science class, as they talked over each other at almost every opportunity. The Liberal and the Conservative leaders were quite irritating as they battled one another throughout the evening without allowing each other to finish their sentences. However, Scheer 鈥� the newly discovered dual national 鈥� came off with a few zingers, especially when he brought up the metaphor of Trudeau鈥檚 masks in a sly reference to the Prime Minister鈥檚 blackface debacle.
Trudeau fought back with strength, saying Scheer doesn't believe in climate change and has no tenable scheme to safeguard the country鈥檚 environment. Moreover, Trudeau correctly believes the Conservative leader is advertising聽an agenda that will unreasonably benefit the wealthiest Canadians. But then Trust Fund Trudeau (as Niki Ashton of the NDP once called him) isn鈥檛 actually familiar with issues relating to poverty on a personal level either.
Speaking of talking over people, Mr. Bernier of the PPC frequently hopped into discussions where he often wasn鈥檛 welcome. Mr. Bernier is known for ranting against diversity, climate activism and immigration. He鈥檚 also produced some strong arguments about the need for balancing Canada's national expenditures in the past. However, the PPC leader failed to make any points of substance on budgeting, or any other issues of importance in the English language debate.
In an ill-advised slight, Trudeau criticized Mr. Singh for not doing enough to fight against Bill 21. However, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh instantly replied that he 鈥渄oes this fight every single day of his life,鈥� in reference to secularism law prohibiting religious symbols in public service in Quebec. But Singh, who wears a Sikh turban, later promised to get involved in Quebec's controversial secularism law, if this ruling arrives on the doorsteps of the Supreme Court. Also, Mr. Singh came up with a brilliant and memorable slight as he ripped into Trudeau and Scheer鈥檚 green policies, telling Canadians they didn鈥檛 have to choose between the headlining pundits, Mr. Delay and Mr. Deny. 聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽
Elizabeth May brought in several interesting points on Monday evening, but she knows the Green Party won鈥檛 form the next government in parliament. Still, May鈥檚 strategy is to hold the next government accountable, especially in relation to issues involving climate change. Her moment of the evening came when she criticized Trudeau for having a failed climate change plan, telling the Prime Minister that he can鈥檛 be a climate leader, especially in light of the federal government鈥檚 pipeline acquisition costing billions. She also caught Singh and the NDP off guard for whipping votes in parliament 鈥� a position also supported by Bernier, who like May believes MPs should be free to speak their minds on parliamentary votes. 聽聽
Yves-Fran莽ois Blanchet of the Bloc Qu茅b茅cois seemed the most measured and calm of all leaders on Monday鈥檚 debate, even as he defended Quebec鈥檚 Bill 21 law, which he believes is a provincial rather than a national issue. The debate became especially interesting when the Bloc Qu茅b茅cois leader challenged Maxime Bernier on his position regarding the environment, saying climate change shouldn鈥檛 be denied. Further, Blanchet castigated Bernier for the former Conservative鈥檚 views on immigration. Blanchet鈥檚 role in the debate was so admirable at times, it was difficult to remember he鈥檚 representing a party bent on dismantling Canada.
