Voters should have lots of debates – including at least one big TV faceoff: Editorial

[CHIMO]

Canadians may roll their eyes and hold their noses through political debates during federal elections – yearning for knockout punches the debates generally don’t deliver. But voters clearly pay attention.

In 2011 the leaders’ debates drew more than 10 million viewers.

The cut-and-thrust, however infuriating, helps us get to know our politicians, get a sense of the issues that move them, get a hint of how effective they’d be leading the country, and hear how they function in les deux langues officielles. For many voters, it’s the only chance to hear the contenders in a face-to-face debate. And many voters start making up their minds only after the debates.

So why then are Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives so anxious to wrest control away from the consortium of major broadcasters that traditionally hosts these events, and let other media outfits stage mini-versions?
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2015/05/12/voters-should-have-lots-of-debates-including-at-least-one-big-tv-faceoff-editorial.html

Having watched Power n Politics tonight, I am very disappointed. It seems that the NDP is siding with the Conservatives.
Having just gone through several years of jockeying votes to keep the Wild Rose out of power it appears that we now have an NDP in Ottawa that is siding up to the Conservatives.
So another election may be required to align things up.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

1. I don't like Harper slapping the CBC.

Last edited Tue May 12, 2015, 10:46 PM - Edit history (1)

And picking and choosing which broadcaster's debates he attends is slimy. However, I don't think it means much. 5 debates are better than 3, and I can't blame Mulcair for wanting to a) raise his media exposure that has never rightly be granted to him, and b) a few more opportunities for him to make fools of Trudeau and Harper.

He will be the Dreadnaught in the debates.

Edit to add; Trudeau supporting all of Harper's draconian police state laws, keystone, China-Fippa, etc, are far more an indictment of an opportunist. Nowadays, a vote for the NDP is like voting for Pierre's or Lester's Liberals, that's the new reality.

[CHIMO]

2. Harper

Is not going to be in a fair debate. They will control it. It now will be possible for him to debate himself on our dime!