June 16, 2004

Leaders debate: canadian election

I watched a good deal of the leaders English debate last night. I have to be honest, what struck me most was how annoying the NDP's Jack Layton was. He managed to undermine his good points, including his very significant point that the Liberals and Conservatives were running campaigns about what not to vote for rather than what to vote for, by his constant interruptions and haranguing. Frankly, I found him rude and ill-behaved.

As for the rest, I thought the Liberal's Paul Martin did fairly well given that he was under almost constant attack, and the Conservative's Stephen Harper did well also managing to score points without coming across the way Jack Layton did. However, it should also be said all the candidates with the exception of the Bloc Quebecois' Gilles Duceppe appeared pre-programmed. So it wasn't so much a debate as it was recorded announcements playing simultaneously.

And the question remains: forget the leaders, what kind of parties are the Liberals and the Conservatives? What kind of people will be running the Canadian government should one of these two be voted in?

No comments: