Dismal Debate

I'm sure the contry has had enough time to absorb everything said in Monday night's English debate. It was the final debate in that language. I watched the first hour sort of half paying attention but the second hour lured me in. What upsets me is the amount of time spent talking about Quebec. Here's my view.

First of all, the Bloc should not have even been allowed to debate. They are a single issue party that is only active in one province. It was a national debate, not a regional one. The Green Party should have been allowed to debate instead of the Bloc as they are running seats in all 308 ridings. The Bloc is only running in 75.

Second, why are we spending so much time on Quebec. Three quarters of an hour were spent talking about this one province. What about the other nine, and the three territories. Why don't they get this much air time. Spending so much time on Quebec is insulting. First off they are not a nation, neither are the Metis or Acadians for that matter. I'm tired of the people running this country dividing people into these neat little camps. They wonder why we have a unity crisis. If Quebec wants to become independent so badly, go. Just don't let the door hit them on the way out. I think we'd all be a lot richer without spending so much of our hard earned money (through taxes) on those ungreatful people.

Another thing that stuck me. While on the topic of Quebec, it came to my surprise that three of the four party leaders are from, you guessed it, Quebec. I always thought Layton was from Toronto but no, born in Quebec. In fact the of the last six Prime Ministers, four have been from Quebec. It can be argued that the terms of Campbell and Turner are too short to really count, so all four recent major PMs have been from Quebec. Talk about a concentration of power. Do we not have any good leaders outside of Quebec, as the ones there obviously aren't good leaders. Both Harper and Harris (Green) are from Toronto.

Next, Child Care. Martin kept talking about a child care program he had instituted. Layton made a good point. What child care program? The Liberals have been promising this since 1993. More broken promises and another attempt at just saying anything to win votes. Child care is not federal jurisdiction anyway. In reality Martin and Layton's plans are not constitutional. The child care programs(as to me it falls under education) would have to be set up by the provinces first.

Lastly Matin mentioned to everybody's surprise mentioned that he'd revoke section 33 of the constitution. The infamous Notwithstanding Clause that allows a government to temporarily opt out of some Charter sections. Will this work. No. Section 33 means little to the average Canadian and has never been used to my knowledge since the Charter was drafted in 1983. The political fallout is too great to use it. In some ways it is good as it checks the power of the judiciary. Martin was stupid when he made his let the courts' decisions stick statement. This is a time where people are questioning how appropriate court decisions are. This will gain him no ground and was simply done out of desperation.

As for the leaders themselves, I believe Harper won, simply because his opponents debated so poorly. Martin simply stood and made stuff up never getting to his real plans. He is getting desperate and will say anything. Layton kept repeating that the NDP was an alternative to the Liberals, but never stated why. Duceps has a one track mind and is an insult to the country. The Conservatives have obviously learned from 2004 and are playing it cool, which is gaining the support as the other leaders bicker and mudsling. There is still two weeks to go but the debate only reinforced my choice.

I'd like to take the time to mention that I'm not a member of the Conservative Party.