Saturday April 19, 2025 | NATIONAL NEWS [Reporting from VICTORIA, BC]
Political analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
After two long evenings of federal leaders debates — one in French on Wednesday evening and the next one in English on Thursday evening — people who tuned-in probably got their fill of issues, arguing and debate.
The heavy load of political content on the debate nights — and media commentary about it before and after in broadcast and social media — may have spurred prompt voting action during the first day of Advance Voting on Friday.
Just as the Canada-bashing Trump scenario has angered Canadians at a visceral level, the bombardment of back-and-forth between the leaders may have instigated some feelings of having had enough of all the verbal fisticuffs.
People voted in strong number on Friday at the Advance polls, perhaps to get this election thing done and dealt with. Though few people probably thought they’d have to wait in line for an hour or more.
Four on stage:
The debates presented four federal party leaders to the Canadian electorate (in order from left to right, on the viewer’s screen):
- Pierre Poilievre, Conservative
- Mark Carney, Liberal
- Jagmeet Singh, NDP
- Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc Quebecois
Knock-out punch not required:
For some reason mainstream media always tries to conclude as to whether or not there is ‘a knockout punch’ in a leaders debate. When that doesn’t happen (as was the case in these 2025 Federal Leaders Debates) to some it also seems like ‘what was all the fuss about’.
But this round of debates was well formatted. Viewers had a full two hours each night to hear some details about party platforms and to assess the style and responsiveness of the leaders.
The public was well-served by the format and the delivery — though two hours is a bit long for most people who don’t follow politics intently.
The moderator each night was professional and attentive to content and flow.
The Leaders:
- Poilievre for all his bluster of the last two years did not overwhelm the evening with anything notably dramatic; he may have decided to perform in a more statesman-like fashion (as the situation called for) but that may not have supercharged his base.
- Carney maintained his stature as the one with economic smarts but he is still being boardroom corporate; people will soon tire of his ‘if I may’ (es he may, he’s a major political party leader) and listing of points by 1, 2, 3.
- Singh tried a little too hard to be scrappy, but it probably emphasized the position he’s been taking lately that the NDP in the House of Commons fights for the people in counterpoint to the corporate leanings of the Liberals and the free enterprise passion of the Conservatives.
- Blanchet is always creative in his delivery of ideas and sharp-witted with his criticism. In the English debate he had no votes to gain beyond Quebec but he added an intellectual elegance that kept his opponents and the audience on their toes.
Commission dropped the ball:
The Leaders’ Debate Commission dropped the ball in two significant ways: they dropped the Green co-leader Jonathan Pedneault from the debates just hours before the French debate was to take place, and media scrums were treated as an afterthought which allowed disruption to take place on the first night and dissolved away all scrums on the second night.
The Commission’s evident disregard for the role of media may well see their Commissioner fired, and perhaps some of the secretariat and advisory board.
Professional media are an important part of the democratic process; for the Commission to put no value on the media portion of the evening was, frankly, shocking to those who devote their careers to factual, professional reporting.
The Commission did report out the topics of the two debates, in the days just ahead of the debates. The public appreciated that.
According to one political reporter on CBC, it was the CBC that in the first place proposed the successful debate format to the Commission.
===== RELATED:
- Strong turnout on first day of federal advance voting (April 18, 2025)
- Leaders debate in French at new time to avoid viewing conflict with NHL game (April 15, 2025)
- Five topics for federal leaders debates April 16 & 17 (April 14, 2025)
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