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On October 7th, 2019 I had the pleasure of being invited to witness the final English Leader’s Debate leading up to Canada’s 2019 Federal election. I had seen something online about submitting questions to be asked of the leaders so I clicked the link and posed a question. At the end of the process there was a box that asked if I would be interested in attending the debate in person. I clicked the box and whattya know, a few days later I got an email inviting me to attend.
The debate was in the Museum of Civilization…er, I mean the Museum of History, in Hull…I mean Gatineau, Quebec, close enough for me to walk, though I had m’lady drive me there. I had been instructed to arrive ninety minutes early and I did. I checked my coat, noticed with surprise and chagrin that there wasn’t a bar, and quietly took my assigned seat in the large theatre.
It soon became apparent that people that had arrived together were being specifically and purposely seated apart and generally far apart at that. I initially found it a bit odd that they would do such a thing but as I sat there (for ninety minutes) staring at the stage I eventually figured it out.
Up on the stage stood six podiums, one for Liberal Leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, one for the leader of both the opposition and the Conservative Party Andrew Scheer, one for Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, one for NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, one for Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, and (believe it or not), there was even a podium set up for Maxime Bernier, the leader of the People’s Party of Canada, a man who was enjoying nearly a full 2% support throughout the nation. And here’s the thing: the podiums were not set up facing us, the live audience. No, the podiums were facing the moderator’s desk, which sat in the middle of the stage surrounded by about thirty people sitting onstage in cushioned chairs, presumably regular citizens who were going to be asking their sent-in questions live in-person.
I could see in the shadows at the back of the stage that each leader had his own dedicated camera (in addition to the constant-moving boom camera that floated above our heads all night) and that we in the audience were there to serve as a backdrop, so when the leaders answered their questions the folks at home would see a bunch of interested, nodding faces in the background.* Of course the producers didn’t want to see husbands chatting with wives or friends commenting to each other throughout the broadcast so they took advantage of the shy and quiet nature of Canadians and made sure we were all seated next to strangers.
And so it was. When the appointed time came (right on time of course…this was live television after all) the leaders walked out from the wings, waved to the crowd and then turned their butts on us for the next two (or was it three?) hours. Luckily we had monitors to look at instead.
Things that didn’t surprise me: Scheer came off as an amateur and a moron, Justin Trudeau said “Uh…” ten hundred thousand times, especially when he was on the defensive, and it was painfully obvious that Elizabeth May would be the best Prime Minister of them all, hands down, despite having no chance at getting the gig whatsoever.
Things that did surprise me: that a divisive fringe player like Maxime Bernier could possibly have been invited to take part at all, not to mention how much screen time he got; that Jagmeet Singh had such a hard time dunking the ball, or really scoring many points at all; and very especially: I was utterly shocked at how likeable I found Yves-François Blanchet. I mean, here was a guy I would never, could never put my support behind, a guy who admittedly and proudly puts one province’s best interests ahead of the rest of Canada each and every time, a guy who stubbornly refers to his home province as a “nation”, and the leader of the party that would like more than anything for Quebec to leave Canada (if I may: Quebexit), and I liked him! He seemed honest and down-to-Earth and he said things that seemed like they needed saying. And here I had barely even heard of the guy.
As a matter of fact, it was Blanchet’s performance that really worried me going in to election day. Though the polls had shown the Conservatives and the Liberals virtually tied the whole time I hadn’t been too worried up to that point. But I could tell that this Bloc guy was going to be grabbing a lot of votes in Quebec, a vote magnet who could impact things considerably.
In the end I voted Green for the first time in my life (for Greta), my riding went Liberal, Trudeau won the election with a minority government, and within a couple of months Andrew Scheer was laughed out of his party’s leadership position (though apathy and covid actually kept him in the Leadership position for ten more months).
And so the world went on.
Incidentally, and most curiously, a few weeks after the debate a cheque arrived in my mailbox for $25, a stipend meant to cover any expenses I may have incurred in attending the event. I had walked home after the debate** and thus hadn’t incurred any expenses at all aside from shoe leather, so it was money-in-pocket. Your tax dollars at work.
*Watching the highlights on the news I could clearly see myself in the background when Elizabeth May told Andrew Scheer that he “would never be Prime Minister”. When she says it my jaw drops to the floor. I saw the clip a dozen times during the next few day’s news cycle and it made me laugh every time.
**And I really enjoyed it too, soaking in the beautiful autumn evening and the lights and bustle of The Market just as someone who was about to move away from this fine town would.
Todd Man Out 