To call this a debate is a misnomer
By Scott Munnoch, Temple Scott Associates
Statistically, most Canadians pay little attention to leaders' debates during an election and even fewer actually watch the entire broadcast. But those who do tune in, expect to gather some useful information. Last night’s debate only served to highlight how not to stage such an event and even had the air of a local high school debating club. There were no winners last night and the real losers were the viewers.
A few quick quips and very little policy, the English debate lacked the gravitas and substance seen in previous years. On the crowded stage, with six-party leaders, response time was limited to a matter of seconds. Including two marginal leaders from the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) and the Bloc Québécois, simply diluted the entire debate and added absolutely nothing. Likewise, five moderators, most with limited experience in such events, added to the paralysis of the debate making proper exchanges limited and continuity virtually impossible.
This was Prime Minister’s Trudeau’s first time as the incumbent Prime Minister. His priority was to ensure voters realized that of the six leaders, only Andrew Scheer and himself have a chance of forming government, and that he was the only progressive option in that scenario. Trudeau tried to build a contrast to Scheer, but every time he attempted to present himself as a leader who took definitive action, Scheer and others would jump on him to challenge that claim.
Andrew Scheer knew that he needed to attack the Liberal leaders’ track record and present a different vision to governing. On several occasions Scheer took the opportunity to point out Trudeau’s hypocrisy on many issues, and painted Trudeau as a "fraud" who has lost the moral authority to govern.
When Trudeau exclaimed that Conservatives cannot be trusted on Indigenous issues, Scheer fired back that Trudeau kicked Jody Wilson-Raybould, the first justice minister of First Nations ancestry, out of the Liberal Caucus. Scheer needed to leave a mark on Trudeau and convince voters that he was out of touch and unfit to govern. He had modest success but Scheer himself had to defend against attacks from the other party leaders who were quick to raise concerns on Conservative policies.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, had targets set on both Trudeau and Scheer. Knowing that he needed to capture the attention of progressive voters, Singh took aim at Trudeau, while presenting himself as the true progressive alternative to Scheer. Labelling Trudeau and Scheer as “Mr. Delay, and Mr. Deny”, Singh had some success using the environment as a wedge issue to demonstrate the NDP’s alternative to the traditional governing parties.
If there was common ground in the debate, it was likely over the question on Bill 21 in Quebec (banning public servants from wearing religious symbols). With the exception of the Bloc leader, all leaders shied away by simply avoiding any clear position.
Green Party leader, Elizabeth May, had the least to lose knowing that any support her party could pull from any direction would boost her continual leadership of her party. Likely she did the most damage to Trudeau as she challenged his record on the environment, an issue key to the Liberal’s re-election plan.
Voters that watched this debate probably left with more comments about the format, the moderators and the inclusion of fringe party leaders rather than about the substance of the debate.
Singh might see a slight bump from his performance. Scheer too delivered a couple of strong lines while Trudeau looked bewildered at times and focused on his standard rebuttal lines as he was the only one on stage that had to defend a record.
In the end, the debate is unlikely to have any real impact on the election outcome, with only a few bumps and no knockout punches.
However, the line of the night had to belong to Andrew Scheer, who picked up on Trudeau’s constant attacks on provincial conservative premiers. "You seem to be oddly obsessed with provincial politics. There is a vacancy for the Ontario Liberal leadership, and if you are so focused on provincial politics go and run for the leadership of that party Mr. Trudeau."
