It’s debatable

I fully intended to watch the leadership debate yesterday evening. I know how important the leadership debate had been four years ago, so I did want to see it. Not that it would have any impact on which candidate I will be giving my vote, but it could have an impact on which party leader will be the Prime Minister of Canada on October 22^nd. That said, I wasn’t sure I could face the whole thing, so I didn’t turn the television on for the start at 7pm. When I did switch on, I couldn’t find it anywhere, not on any of the Canadian networks, including the CBC news network. What the hell? And then it hit me. Duh. 7pm Eastern time, which meant it would have begun at 4pm Pacific time.

So I missed the whole thing. From the sound of the news coverage afterwards, there were no knock out punches between Trudeau and Scheer and, as far as I can gather, the Liberals and the Conservatives are still neck and neck in the polls.

How is this possible? I mean, if I lived in the 905 (the area code surrounding Toronto which often decides elections) I could think of many reasons not to vote for Justin Trudeau. The pipeline, SNC Lavalin, blackface and, most recently, the Liberal government’s shameful decision to challenge the First Nations compensation package ordered by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal all spring immediately to mind. These are all good reasons not to vote for the Liberals this time around. There is, if you live in a riding that always swings back and forth between the Liberals and the Conservatives, an extremely important reason to hold your nose and vote for Trudeau anyway: Andrew Scheer.

I’ve been disappointed (very disappointed) in the past when Conservatives have won power in Canada.  (Or the UK.) They are the blue meanies.

Their election is always bad news for the poor and underprivileged. (The Liberals aren’t really much better, but every little bit counts.) I didn’t like Brian Mulroney and I actually hated Stephen Harper, but the idea of the dimpled devil becoming the Prime Minister makes my flesh crawl.

I’d appeal to the better angels of the 905 region, but, truth be told, I’m not sure a majority of  these voters actually care about the poor and underprivileged. I’m confident there are very fine people living in this part of Canada, but the majority have voted Conservative before and I don’t know how abhorrent they might find the homophobic, misogynistic social conservatism of Mr Scheer and his ilk.

So perhaps I should be appealing to the notoriously fickle voters of Quebec. I know you don’t like Jagmeet Singh’s turban, so I doubt there’s much chance of another orange wave washing across the province. What I don’t know is how attached you remain to the Liberals you helped elect in 2015. Are you thinking it might be time to give the Bloc Quebecois another whirl? Please, please, please don’t do it this time around. You know Andrew Scheer has no affection for la belle province. He wants to run a diluted bitumen pipeline through it. A vote for the Bloc this month is a vote for Scheer. Seriously. If you can’t get past the turban and go orange, stay red for now, okay?

I know Trudeau is an empty suit who’s been every bit as disappointing as he was destined to be, but at least he isn’t a suit filled with bile. So hold your noses, Canadian voters, and keep the creep on the Opposition benches. Please?

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Oh, and while I’m begging: Come back, Nathan Cullen. Your country needs you.