Ok, so it’s debate time. I skipped the opening statements because they’re boring beyond compare. So lets watch shall we. I’ll be sticking with the same format as before.
8:07 Good question from the moderator. “Do you have any evidence?”
8:08 Toronto Waterfront? What’s Harper getting at here. I should be fair and say that he effectively went after Martin however.
8:10 Duceppe once again has the best (at least in terms of honesty and practicality) response: there should be appearance of controversy.
8:12 I like the idea of direct confrontation… but it only took 30 seconds for Martin to turn on it and attack Layton directly.
8:14 More women in politics… this is really starting to bother me. He is still suggesting that women are by their nature cleaner and more responsible. I find that offensive.
8:16 This is great. Rene Levesque was a crass, braying and ungainly character, but nobody has ever besmirched his ethics. Again I am impressed by Duceppe’s ability to pounce on any effort for the other leaders to try and get their foot in the door of Quebec. He is on point as well, Harper is hardly a trailblazer of lobbyist transparency. Anyone who would move government away from a confidence system is decidedly supportive of Lobbying. All he would do with his ethics legislation is codify a system which favours lobbying.
8:20 This is a good answer and challenge to Harper. Too bad he didn’t bite. His answer to the next question is a bit more interesting. In the same way that he shit in his breakfast cereal when he called the Gomery inquiry, he is shitting all over his campaign again. He is in a bind because his credibility is almost non-existant, but the fact remains that you cannot continue to say “I took responsibility” when you are trying to secure the single most important job in government. It doesn’t jive well with people who suffer from their mistakes in real, tangible ways.
8:25 As much as he is scoring points when he mentions all of these “scandals,” Harper should be careful in throwing around names. Judy Sgro was completely exhonerated and it is despicable that Harper continues to drag her way through the mud. An investigation confirmed that she was basically extorted and was the victim of criminal behaviour.
8:29 Is it just me, or does Stephen Harper seem much more relaxed and friendly than he has in the past. He seems able to answer questions without coming across as snide and pleading.
8:30 Ok, now *this* is why I am uncomfortable with the idea of voting for the NDP. Electoral reform is nice, but popular dissent is no reason to scramble a political system, yet that is what is being proposed.
8:31 Good question again. It kills me that Harper is getting so much good press for this. “We’re going to deal with smuggling.” What a clever idea. I wonder why the other governments didn’t think of this. He is correct to suggest that RCMP cutbacks have made smuggling easier. But there is no mention of the underlying causes, which Duceppe is exploiting.
8:34 I find Layton’s suddenly somber tone off-putting. Does anyone think that all of a sudden emotions are overwhelming him? Of course not. The act of “trying to look respectful” is an act of disrespect itself.
8:35 It must kill Layton and Duceppe whenever Martin basically ignores their parties and goes right after Harper. It’s a good strategy, but it makes both look petty. He did it again during the next question.
8:37 “I don’t believe that law enforcement will cost money.” For some reason the song “Can’t someone else do it?” Comes to mind. Is Harper hoping that additional officers will work for goodwill and a pat on the back? I don’t understand how he gets away with these kinds of answers.
8:39 Good question, bad answer. Then again, Duceppe is preaching to the converted. Nice line with the “go with your health card, not with your credit card.”
I’m sorry folks, but I’m going to have to cut this short: I’ve got a pounding headache and can’t stare at this screen any longer. I will be posting tomorrow or wednesday on the subject of mandatory minimum sentences.
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