Munk Leaders’ debate on foreign policy a heated success

The Munk Leader’s Debate on Canada’s foreign policy took place last night, though a majority of Canadians did not see it. A narrow-casted affair, on a cable channel, it was one of the last opportunities to see the leaders in action, against each other.

Many of those who did watch the exchange, however, thought it the best debate so far.  The third English debate, with the three leading candidates, left fourth place, Green Party leader, Elizabeth May, tweeting from the sidelines.

There were heated exchanges on security, the revocation of citizenship, the conflict in Syria and the relationship between Canada and the United States. No clear winner emerged, though some pundits were praising Justin Trudeau’s performance. Others credited Stephen Harper with again, looking the most statesman-like as his opponents went at each other.

“It looks like it’s going to become a two-horse race between the Conservatives and the Liberals”

Professor Nelson Wiseman, of the University of Toronto’s Political Science department, says most people who watch these debates are political junkies. He says the majority of Canadians will be more influenced by the TV ads that are beginning to fill the airwaves as the countdown intensifies for the October 19th federal election.

The event took place in Toronto last night, in a filled-to-capacity hall. The leaders found their remarks being greeted with applause on occasion, and sometimes even laughter. despite the audience having being instructed otherwise. It was a little distracting for the viewer at home.

Wiseman says, following last night’s performances, “It looks like it’s going to become a two-horse race between the Conservatives and the Liberals”. But he cautions that there are “unpredictables”, those scenarios that can change the political landscape quickly, as the Syrian refugee crisis did. Canadians were hit hard by the image of a drowned boy washed ashore in Turkey, and the grieving aunt near Vancouver, in British Columbia.

As for another debate, this is what John Doyle, television critic for the Globe and Mail, one of Canada’s national newspapers, had to say: “The lack of a national English-language debate seen simultaneously on all TV channels is a national disgrace. And the lack of an outcry, apart from some occasional newspaper punditry, suggests to me that as a country we are not actually engaged by national politics. We can’t be bothered.”