The Debate in French

I watched the French language leader’s debate this evening really enjoyed it and I was impressed by the new format.

First I have to say that Elizabeth May held her own in French although she was not nearly as comfortable with the language as the other leaders were. It was really fun watching her go after Harper.

It was interesting to see Stephan Dion debating in his own language. He did very well. It is a shame that his English language skills are not quite up to snuff. I am ashamed to say that I know a number of Canadians will hold that against him. Too bad.

Jack Layton did very well and obviously enjoyed himself. I did think he lost points for going after Dion at one point. He challenged Harper well. He is from Hudson Quebec and his skills in French are very good.

Giles Duceppe was very comfortable and did a good job attacking Harper. You just have to like Giles. He knows what he wants and doesn’t really care about what happens in Prince George. His principles are in the right place though when it comes to social issues.

Stephen Harper’s manner, I don’t think, played well in Quebec. That kind of smug demeanour might work in North Battleford but I don’t think it plays well in Lac St Jean. Little Stevie reminded me of so many company negotiators I faced across the bargaining table in 30 years of bargaining collective agreements. Something about him just gets under my skin.

I was pleased to see the opposition parties clearly win the debate but in some ways, that is the root of the problem. The four of them very clearly are on the same page on several issues. The problem of course is that they split the vote every which way.

Can anyone spell coalition.