{"id":1321,"date":"2007-03-13T20:12:00","date_gmt":"2007-03-14T00:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/?p=1321"},"modified":"2007-03-13T20:12:00","modified_gmt":"2007-03-14T00:12:00","slug":"le-debat-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/?p=1321","title":{"rendered":"Le Debat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Random comments as I half pay attention to the Quebec debate (Fuddle Duddle’s<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> got the french live blog going too<\/a>)…<\/p>\n

6:12 pm: I just log on to the CPAC<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> website now as Charest<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> says “you need to elect the best team, I have the best team”. I guess the fact that none of his candidates have been busted for genocide denial or racist comments does <\/em>put him in first.<\/p>\n

Health Care<\/strong><\/p>\n

6:14 pm: Dumont<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> promises more private health care.<\/p>\n

6:16 pm: Boisclair<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> says that “Charest<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> does not deserve a second chance”. I’m not sure if Andre Boisclair<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> is really the person who should be saying that people don’t deserve second chances…<\/p>\n

6:23 pm: Boisclair<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> says that all Quebecers<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> should have access to drugs. I’m sure Andre knows a guy who can help ensure that…<\/p>\n

6:25 pm: Dumont<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> attacks Boisclair<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> for what “his government” did when the PQ<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> were in power. I don’t think Andre Boisclair<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> can be held responsible for what the PQ<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> did considering he was stoned most of the time.<\/p>\n

Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n

6:33 pm: We all love the environment blah blah blah…this is gonna be a dull round.<\/p>\n

6:39 pm: Ding Ding Ding! Boisclair<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> becomes the first candidate to take a shot at Alberta during the debate, lamenting how Quebecers<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>‘ tax dollars are funding the oil sands. I know! I just hate how Quebec tax dollars keep getting sent to Alberta.<\/p>\n

6:48 pm: Let me just say that it’s nice to watch a debate where we won’t have to listen to hours of post-game analysis about how good everyone’s<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> French was.<\/p>\n

Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n

6:55 pm: I’m not sure if you can look “Prime Ministerial” in a provincial debate, or even if that’s a good thing, but Charest<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> seems to be cool and in control of this one. Dumont<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Boisclair<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> also keep going after each other like rabid squirrels whenever they get the 1 on 1 debates against each other which, one imagines, also serves Charest<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> well.<\/p>\n

6:59 pm: Jack Layton<\/strike> Andre Boisclair<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> complains about government money going to the banks and insurance companies.<\/p>\n

7:03 pm: Dumont<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> produces a document related to the overpass collapse…I’m not really sure what the brouhaha is all about so I guess we’ll need to wait until the post game show to see what it’s all about.<\/p>\n

7:08 pm: Boisclair<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> asks Dumont<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> “what is the room to manoeuvre<\/span>?” repeatedly. Even the translator gets fired up over it! It looks to me like Boisclair<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> caught Dumont<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> not knowing his facts. WHAM! BAM<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>! You know it’s bad when Andre Boisclair<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em> makes you look inexperienced and not ready to govern.<\/p>\n

Social Programs<\/strong><\/p>\n

7:13 pm: Jean Charest<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> takes credit for increasing the Quebec birth rate. Who does this guy think he is? Pierre Trudeau?<\/p>\n

7:27 pm: Charest<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>: “Mr. Dumont<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>, why are you saying the opposite of the truth?”. Charest<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> goes on to absolutely own Dumont<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> on the topic of school boards.<\/p>\n

Quebec’s Political Future <\/strong>(Let’s get ready to rummmmble<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>!)<\/p>\n

7:32 pm: Boisclair<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> says that Charest<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> accepted Trudeau’s constitution. Huh? Charest<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> was, like, 24 then. (hat tip to Antonio <\/a>on that one)<\/p>\n

7:35 pm: Boisclair<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> doesn’t answer what his “Plan B” is if a referendum fails. Dumont<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> doesn’t answer what constitutional powers he wants. They go back and forth on this for about three minutes.<\/p>\n

7:40 pm: Boisclair<\/span><\/span><\/span> attacks Charest<\/span><\/span><\/span> for not demanding enough from Ottawa. Charest<\/span><\/span><\/span> then lists everything he’s squeezed out of Martin and Harper over the last four years.<\/p>\n

7:43 pm: Boisclair<\/span><\/span> compares the fiscal imbalance to giving a blood bank to a vampire. I’m not really sure how the metaphor works but I’m glad he didn’t say “giving crack to an addict”.<\/p>\n

7:47 pm: Dumont<\/span><\/span> says that the Counsel of Federation is a playground for Charest<\/span><\/span> to go to Niagara Falls, Edmonton, and St. John’s. Believe me – I live in Edmonton – and no one would consider a trip to Edmonton as a junket or perk.<\/p>\n

So, all in all, I’d say Charest<\/span> did what he had to do – he looked <\/em>the most like a leader out there. Dumont<\/span> really fizzled in my opinion. Of course, I’m sure people in Quebec may get a completely different impression from it so it’ll be interesting to see tomorrow’s media spin.<\/p>\n

UPDATE:<\/em><\/strong> It’s a small sample, but the overnight polls <\/a>seem to have Dumont taking the debate. Go figure. (H\/T Nottawa<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Random comments as I half pay attention to the Quebec debate (Fuddle Duddle’s got the french live blog going too)… 6:12 pm: I just log on to the CPAC website now as Charest says “you need to elect the best team, I have the best team”. I guess the fact that none of his candidates […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1321\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}