“I have been following these debates since 1968 and it is the first time that all the leaders have joined forces and agreed on the same critiques of one leader, in this case, Harper,” said Denis Monière, a professor of politics at the Université de Montréal in an interview after the French-language leaders’ debate Wednesday night.
It was a safe bet that Harper would be the key target in the debate, given that his party is polling well in front of the four main opposition parties, each of whom reside further left on the political spectrum. But the extent of the derision thrown his way may have caught even Harper off guard.
“It is really surprising how Harper did not generally react firmly against all the attacks the four other leaders were levelling at him,” said Monière. “On the topic of criminal justice he reacted more energetically, but that was almost it.”
“I think he wanted to play the role of a different prime minister, someone who was mastering the situation. But for common people, when someone is accused that much and he doesn’t react—as he did—it sends a message that he might be wrong or guilty of what he was accused.”
For Prof. Monière, the winners in the debate were Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, who came across stronger than usual, and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe, who spoke passionately to French Quebecers.
He also said with five leaders and eight topics, the debates became “cacophonous,” so much so that at one point Mr. Dion even called Mr. Layton Mr. Duceppe.
The dense debate also lacked substance, he argued, particularly when it came to the opening topic, the economy.
“Many questions and answers were out of context,” he said. “The public didn’t learn anything from that.”
Others agreed.
When the candidates were asked whether they would consider running a deficit if Canada faced a recession, Chorney said they all responded in a “fiscally conservative and incorrect fashion.”
Each candidate promised they would not run a deficit.
Chorney said all the candidates should know that deficits can sometimes play a critical role in an economic downturn. He suggested each was too terrified of public disapproval to admit that a deficit budget may be necessary.
“If you don’t allow such a thing you are going to make the circumstances much worse,” he said.
“That’s a significant disappointment because these are all intelligent people.”
Of all the leaders, Chorney noted that only Dion laid out any specific plan to address any effects the U.S. credit crisis could have on the Canadian economy.
The Liberal Leader used the debate to spell out a 30-day action plan that would include meeting with top economists and first ministers in the first month in office. Dion also pledged to protect the savings and RRSPs of Canadians.
Overall Chorney thought Dion would probably come out of the debate better than anyone else due to the generally low expectations people had of him in Quebec.
“I thought he did rather OK,” noted Chorney, adding that as the debate went on Dion became increasingly confident and had some strong exchanges with Harper.
“She made some interesting contributions there.”
In a novel twist, each party leader was asked to say something good about the leader seated to their left. The task seemed easier for some than others.
Mr. Duceppe lauded Ms. May for her environmental concerns. Mr. Layton said of the Liberal Leader, “Dion is a professor like me; he’s an honest man.”
Mr. Harper praised Mr. Layton’s role in the apology to survivors of the Indian Residential Schools and added, “you’re honest, and I do appreciate that.”
Mr. Dion said Mr. Duceppe, when “at his best,” exemplified “statesmanship.”
Ms. May told Mr. Harper, “You’re a good father, your kids are lovely,” before adding that she felt he was a man of principle, though she disagreed with his principles.
The exchange was a “Canadian moment,” according to Marguerite Mendell, an associate professor at in community and public affairs at Concordia University.
“Only in Canada do we have these people who are at each other’s throats and then leaning back and looking each other’s good qualities and what they appreciated,” she said.
“In a funny way it made me proud to be a Canadian. I can’t imagine this happening in the U.S. for example.”
According to Ms. Mendell, there were no surprises.
“I didn’t walk away thinking, this was a very exciting debate,” she said. “No new things were said.”
“All four of the leaders were very effective in their criticisms and attacks on Harper,” she said, saying Harper was caught unable to answer on several occasions.
In a last-minute revision to the format, more time was given in the debates to the economy. It was a move first called for by Mr. Harper, who has made the economy central to his campaign.
But according to Mendell, no leader took home a prize on the economy.
“I didn’t feel that any of them really addressed the fragility of the world economy,” she said. However, she argued that opposition leaders succeeded in portraying Harper as “unrealistic in his insistence that Canada is impervious” to the financial turmoil in the U.S.
Harper described Canada’s economy as “solid” and said its “fundamentals are very strong.” But opposition leaders took aim at his optimism, saying Harper’s policies had weakened the economy.
The problem, Prof. Mendell said, is that “I didn’t hear any very specific or profound analysis of the situation or how to get out of it.”
The stakes may have been highest in the debate for Mr. Harper, as big gains in Quebec could help deliver a majority government.
But the debate in Quebec has shifted unfavourably for Mr. Harper in recent weeks. A Conservative proposal to allow convicted criminals as young as 14 to be sentenced as adults was criticized in Quebec where many advocate rehabilitation over stiff sentences. Mr. Duceppe took aim at this policy in the debates.
Mr. Harper had tried to soften a potential Quebec backlash by vowing the law would allow each province to choose the minimum age at which the sentences could be applied, a move that was criticized outside the province.
Mr. Harper’s much-publicized cuts to arts programs have also played particularly poorly in Quebec, where culture-protecting sentiments run strong. A three-minute satire video on the cuts by Québécois composer Michel Rivard has garnered more than half a million hits on youtube and may have done the Conservatives more harm than Mr. Duceppe or other party leaders.
Harper began the campaign at the top of the polls in Quebec, with some—even former figures in the Bloc—questioning the party’s direction under Duceppe. The Bloc is now polling comfortably in front of the Tories in Quebec, though the Conservatives are still the leading federalist party.
Despite the Bloc’s surge back to the front of the pack, the party’s separatist cause appears to be off the radars for most Quebecers. Recent polls show the economy and environment at the top of issues on the minds of Quebecers.
Additional reporting by Matthew Little, Jason Loftus, and Joan Delaney.
