Election 2008 - Débat des chefs en français
The following are my impressions on last night's (Oct. 1st) Leaders Debate. This first debate was in French. The English one will be held tonight (Oct. 2nd) at 9:00pm.
Expectations
I went into the debates expecting them to be quite confrontational like last year's, with the leaders all coming off as immature and argumentative, and a cynical expectation that the electorate would once again be forced to choose the lesser of four (now five) evils. I was fairly certain that I would again be voting for the Green Party, as in the past I had seen them as being above all the petty squabbling. But after even the first half hour, I realized I couldn't have been more wrong.
Impression of the Debate
The debates this year adopted a new format, with the leaders sitting around a table in an attractive news room, rather than standing behind podia in something resembling a press conference. It felt like a casual, albeit still intellectual, discussion.
Topics introduced by the moderator were interspersed with pre-recorded videos of insightful questions submitted by citizens from across the country. One even asked the leaders to each talk about something they admire in the person to their left, a seemingly innocuous question that actually went a long way in revealing the character and disposition of the leaders.
Though there were indeed some confrontational moments, I was surprised by the civility of the debate. The leaders primarily went after the incumbent Prime Minister, taking only a few swipes at each other, but it was done in a mature way, free of personal attacks, focusing instead on policies and facts. It made me proud to be Canadian, cheesy as that may sound.
Impression of the Leaders
Naturally, the francophone leaders had a better command of their native tongue, though I was surprised at how good Mr. Layton and Mr. Harper's French was. Mrs. May struggled a bit more, but I think her efforts were respectable, and she can surely improve with some coaching over the coming years. After all, if more anglophone Canadians made an effort to learn about and respect the history, culture, and languages of their country, Quebec would have much less reason to separate.
Mr. Duceppe impressed me a great deal. Far from only caring about seperatism, he came off along with Mr. Dion as very intelligent. My friends and I were musing last night that if we lived in Quebec, we would vote for him! I'm not joking - he seemed to have the peoples' best interests at heart, and came across as very genuine, a sharp contrast to Messrs. Latyon and Harper, whose demeanour seemed rather forced and artificial.
Mr. Layton did, however, have a certain eloquence at times, and a strong command of French. He delivered some solid blows against Mr. Harper, though met with somewhat less success with Mr. Dion. He came off a few times as a bit of a used-car salesman, though, as one of my friends noted - his gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice seemed a bit too calculated. To his credit, though I don't agree with his overly socialist policies, his attacks did seem more good-natured than condescending.
Mr. Harper, on the other hand, was outright arrogant, particularly in his tone of voice. At all times, he seemed dismissive of the other leaders, as if he thought he was right and everyone else at the tables was an idiot, despite all evidence to the contrary. To his credit, despite being on the defensive most of the evening, he took it like an adult. With the extra time allotted to the economy due to the impending recession, I expected him to perform somewhat better, presenting some strength in an area of typical Conservative dominance, but he stuck to his "Everything's on the right track" mantra and continued to insist that Canada could weather the economic and environmental crises without much effort. His party has yet to even release a platform, and I am deeply concerned by his dictatorial style of leadership.
Mrs. May did well by being present, and I am glad she managed to get herself included in the debates, as it means that her party will be a bigger contender in years to come. That said, her French was mediocre at best, and she did not come off as a particularly capable leader. Don't get me wrong, I respect her accomplishments as an activist, and I agree with several of her party's policies, but unlike Green parties elsewhere in the world, this one seems to have too socialist a policy on the economy. In the past, I voted for her to express my distaste for the other parties and to get some important issues on the table, but now the other parties have started to take note.
Mr. Dion impressed me the most, by far, of all the leaders. His party has made several environmental policies central to their platform, despite the political difficulty in doing so, but until last night, my confidence in him as a leader was lacking. Well he sure proved me wrong. He came off as intelligent, responsible, well-spoken, and quick-witted, deftly parrying and countering attacks against him. Unlike many leaders, he showed true emotion when he spoke, but while this has in the past been mistaken as weakness by the media, it was clear during the debate that he truly cared about the issues. He took it on the offensive, showing indignation at the actions and policies of the Conservative government, and pride in the policies his party has developed to meet the challenges of the coming century. All the while being cordial and polite, he distinguished himself from Layton and Duceppe, and gave some real reasons to vote for him. Academics and philosophers should be running the show more often, not businessmen and lawyers.
Parting Thoughts
As far as I'm concerned, the Liberals and the Bloc won the day, and the Conservatives essentially lost Quebec, with the other four parties each taking a sizeable chunk out of them. In fact, the other four leaders seemed to get along quite well, being respectful of their differences, yet still able to discuss matters in a friendly manner amongst themselves. The Conservatives' only hope for a majority now lies in B.C. and Ontario, and I'm hoping tonight's English debate goes well to soundly deprive them of that.
If only our electoral system were less obsolete and distored, if only we had a system of proportional representation at the Federal level, with regional representation on the Provincial level instead, I think we would have the most capable and trustworthy parliament in Canadian history. A coalition government with Dion, Duceppe, Layton, and May at the helm would be the best thing for the country, as it is clear that they have the mutual respect and civility to operate within such a system, and the House would be much more representative of the views of the citizens. After all, this is not a dictatorship; politicians are supposed to be accountable to us, not the other way around.
Unfortunately, that will probably be a long time coming. Nevertheless, I am now in the quite comfortable position of being able to cast a vote with integrity, as the strategic voting necessary to defeat Mr. Harper in my local riding is also the vote that I want to cast for the party whose idiology and leader I feel best represent my view for our country.
I certainly did not go into this debate expecting my voting intention to change, though change it did. I look forward to the English debate tonight, and can only hope it is as civil and intelligent as last night's French debate. If Mr. Dion can pull off a good performance again tonight, then this year I will be confident enough to cast my vote at the Advance Poll this weekend.
To those of you who are joining us tonight, I'll see you then!
-- Ian
P.S. If you'd like to watch the French debate yourself and form your own judgements, feel free to do so. It's always better to watch in its entirety rather than just watching the snippets the media chooses to show, as what you choose can totally change the impression you get, giving the media too much control over it.
Expectations
I went into the debates expecting them to be quite confrontational like last year's, with the leaders all coming off as immature and argumentative, and a cynical expectation that the electorate would once again be forced to choose the lesser of four (now five) evils. I was fairly certain that I would again be voting for the Green Party, as in the past I had seen them as being above all the petty squabbling. But after even the first half hour, I realized I couldn't have been more wrong.
Impression of the Debate
The debates this year adopted a new format, with the leaders sitting around a table in an attractive news room, rather than standing behind podia in something resembling a press conference. It felt like a casual, albeit still intellectual, discussion.
Topics introduced by the moderator were interspersed with pre-recorded videos of insightful questions submitted by citizens from across the country. One even asked the leaders to each talk about something they admire in the person to their left, a seemingly innocuous question that actually went a long way in revealing the character and disposition of the leaders.
Though there were indeed some confrontational moments, I was surprised by the civility of the debate. The leaders primarily went after the incumbent Prime Minister, taking only a few swipes at each other, but it was done in a mature way, free of personal attacks, focusing instead on policies and facts. It made me proud to be Canadian, cheesy as that may sound.
Impression of the Leaders
Naturally, the francophone leaders had a better command of their native tongue, though I was surprised at how good Mr. Layton and Mr. Harper's French was. Mrs. May struggled a bit more, but I think her efforts were respectable, and she can surely improve with some coaching over the coming years. After all, if more anglophone Canadians made an effort to learn about and respect the history, culture, and languages of their country, Quebec would have much less reason to separate.
Mr. Duceppe impressed me a great deal. Far from only caring about seperatism, he came off along with Mr. Dion as very intelligent. My friends and I were musing last night that if we lived in Quebec, we would vote for him! I'm not joking - he seemed to have the peoples' best interests at heart, and came across as very genuine, a sharp contrast to Messrs. Latyon and Harper, whose demeanour seemed rather forced and artificial.
Mr. Layton did, however, have a certain eloquence at times, and a strong command of French. He delivered some solid blows against Mr. Harper, though met with somewhat less success with Mr. Dion. He came off a few times as a bit of a used-car salesman, though, as one of my friends noted - his gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice seemed a bit too calculated. To his credit, though I don't agree with his overly socialist policies, his attacks did seem more good-natured than condescending.
Mr. Harper, on the other hand, was outright arrogant, particularly in his tone of voice. At all times, he seemed dismissive of the other leaders, as if he thought he was right and everyone else at the tables was an idiot, despite all evidence to the contrary. To his credit, despite being on the defensive most of the evening, he took it like an adult. With the extra time allotted to the economy due to the impending recession, I expected him to perform somewhat better, presenting some strength in an area of typical Conservative dominance, but he stuck to his "Everything's on the right track" mantra and continued to insist that Canada could weather the economic and environmental crises without much effort. His party has yet to even release a platform, and I am deeply concerned by his dictatorial style of leadership.
Mrs. May did well by being present, and I am glad she managed to get herself included in the debates, as it means that her party will be a bigger contender in years to come. That said, her French was mediocre at best, and she did not come off as a particularly capable leader. Don't get me wrong, I respect her accomplishments as an activist, and I agree with several of her party's policies, but unlike Green parties elsewhere in the world, this one seems to have too socialist a policy on the economy. In the past, I voted for her to express my distaste for the other parties and to get some important issues on the table, but now the other parties have started to take note.
Mr. Dion impressed me the most, by far, of all the leaders. His party has made several environmental policies central to their platform, despite the political difficulty in doing so, but until last night, my confidence in him as a leader was lacking. Well he sure proved me wrong. He came off as intelligent, responsible, well-spoken, and quick-witted, deftly parrying and countering attacks against him. Unlike many leaders, he showed true emotion when he spoke, but while this has in the past been mistaken as weakness by the media, it was clear during the debate that he truly cared about the issues. He took it on the offensive, showing indignation at the actions and policies of the Conservative government, and pride in the policies his party has developed to meet the challenges of the coming century. All the while being cordial and polite, he distinguished himself from Layton and Duceppe, and gave some real reasons to vote for him. Academics and philosophers should be running the show more often, not businessmen and lawyers.
Parting Thoughts
As far as I'm concerned, the Liberals and the Bloc won the day, and the Conservatives essentially lost Quebec, with the other four parties each taking a sizeable chunk out of them. In fact, the other four leaders seemed to get along quite well, being respectful of their differences, yet still able to discuss matters in a friendly manner amongst themselves. The Conservatives' only hope for a majority now lies in B.C. and Ontario, and I'm hoping tonight's English debate goes well to soundly deprive them of that.
If only our electoral system were less obsolete and distored, if only we had a system of proportional representation at the Federal level, with regional representation on the Provincial level instead, I think we would have the most capable and trustworthy parliament in Canadian history. A coalition government with Dion, Duceppe, Layton, and May at the helm would be the best thing for the country, as it is clear that they have the mutual respect and civility to operate within such a system, and the House would be much more representative of the views of the citizens. After all, this is not a dictatorship; politicians are supposed to be accountable to us, not the other way around.
Unfortunately, that will probably be a long time coming. Nevertheless, I am now in the quite comfortable position of being able to cast a vote with integrity, as the strategic voting necessary to defeat Mr. Harper in my local riding is also the vote that I want to cast for the party whose idiology and leader I feel best represent my view for our country.
I certainly did not go into this debate expecting my voting intention to change, though change it did. I look forward to the English debate tonight, and can only hope it is as civil and intelligent as last night's French debate. If Mr. Dion can pull off a good performance again tonight, then this year I will be confident enough to cast my vote at the Advance Poll this weekend.
To those of you who are joining us tonight, I'll see you then!
-- Ian
P.S. If you'd like to watch the French debate yourself and form your own judgements, feel free to do so. It's always better to watch in its entirety rather than just watching the snippets the media chooses to show, as what you choose can totally change the impression you get, giving the media too much control over it.