The English language leaders’ debate complete, the leaders of the five major parties in the federal election are back on the campaign trail, as the countdown to a new government in Canada recommences.
In respect of the English-language leaders’ debate last evening, from the vantage point of VanRamblings, the debate was a clear win for Prime Minister Paul Martin. As the Toronto Star’s Chantel Hébert writes, in a column headlined PM injects life into flagging campaign, “If last night’s leaders’ debate disposed of anything, it may be the already slim prospect of a Conservative majority government emerging from the June 28 election.”
During the course of the two-hour live television debate before Canadians, only Prime Minister Martin possessed the ability to enunciate a clear vision for Canada. Martin’s grasp of domestic and foreign affairs, his willingness to stand up for Canada on the world stage, his desire for fiscal prudence tempered by the need he articulated for the role of government in providing social programmes for young families and the elderly, as well as providing for increased funding to strengthen the public health care system, all of this and more provide cogent evidence that Martin is the only candidate among the five federal party leaders who is able to take Canada through the early part of this century towards the creation of a more just society.
While Conservative leader Stephen Harper hung back, barely more than a phantom afterthought in the campaign debate, constantly biting his bottom lip like an errant schoolboy; while New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton yapped and yammered at Martin like a grade school boy jealous of the facility with which his Liberal counterpart was able to command the stage; and while Bloc Québécois leader played obsequious friend of the NDP, and paradoxical potential coalition partner to the right-leaning Conservatives, only Prime Minister Martin articulated a consistent humanitarian vision for the Canada of which we are all so proud.
How it is that Harper continues to predict a Tory majority in the face of one of the most mealy-mouthed debate performances Canadians have had the poor fortune to witness, is quite beyond VanRamblings? How it is that the Reform/Alliance Conservative leader believes, as he suggested in a speech to Conservatives gathered in Niagara Falls, Ontario this morning that his party has wrapped up a federal election win simply beggars belief.
For his part, Martin seems reinvigorated by his solid performance in both the French and English language debates, and as the election heads into the stretch run, the Prime Minister has set about to reinforce the gains he made over the past two nights by reminding Canadians of the fact that …

“It was a Liberal government that created Medicare. And our Liberal government will preserve it. We will ensure our health care system is sustainable. By making it our No. 1 priority, we will fix it for a generation.”
“We believe that Canadians want shorter waiting times more than they want aircraft carriers. We believe that Canadians want their governments to make it a national priority to bring down waiting times, to bring them down substantially and bring them down for good.”
“I give you my word: I will bring the same energy, drive and determination to tackling waiting times for health care that I did to eliminating the deficit. I’m here to tell you it can be done.”

VanRamblings finds it difficult not to agree with Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente, when she writes …

I hate explaining Canadian politics to my American friends. “Things are going pretty well up here,” I tell them. “The economy is booming. Everyone is glad we stayed out of the mess in Iraq. The separatist threat has died right down. Most people are pretty content with the government’s policies, and they think our new Prime Minister’s a very decent guy. So what we’re going to do is throw him out and elect a guy we don’t know much about who wants to fundamentally overhaul our country.”

When you have prominent ex-Tories switching sides and supporting the Liberals, when the mayors of the major cities across Canada — where 80% of Canadians live — express very serious concern about the Conservative agenda for cities, when commentators express concern about the Conservative agenda for Canada’s system of justice, their utter lack of an arts policy, their articulated policies of intolerance and division, and Harper’s whole, untrustworthy demeanour as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, you have to ask yourself, “Why are Canadians even considering electing the Reform / Alliance Conservatives to a first term in government?”
For insight into Stephen Harper’s policies, as well as important 2004 federal election news events, click on VanRamblings’ full Decision Canada coverage.

The single most heartening, and the single most forthright, statement I’ve heard made since the federal election began more than three weeks ago occurred at an all-candidates meeting at the University of British Columbia on Monday.
At a boisterous question and answer session, attended by Liberal MP Stephen Owen, and three other candidates contesting the Vancouver Quadra riding, Owen drew the loudest cheers when he warned students about allowing men to interfere with a woman’s right to choose on whether to have an abortion, saying that a Liberal government would never allow a free parliamentary vote on whether a woman should have a right to choose.

“Since 88 per cent of the MPs in Parliament are men, a so-called free vote would result in men deciding one of the most important human rights issues for women,” Owen said. “That is unacceptable and our party would not support it.”

The three other candidates gave the kind of politically-correct answers you’d expect of a politician.
The NDP candidate, David Askew, said: “All votes on human rights issues should be along party lines.” Conservative candidate and former British Columbia Social Credit cabinet minister Stephen Rogers defended the free vote system, supported by his party and leader Stephen Harper.
“I believe free votes are a good thing to do,” Rogers said.
And, Green party candidate Doug Warkentin said he believed a party should take a position on all votes.
Men and women fighting side by side — over the course of these past 30 years and more — to achieve the goal of self-determination for women, for our wives, our sisters, and our daughters, and the three comments made above by candidates Askew, Rogers and Warkentin is the best that these political aspirants could come up with? None of these three deserve office.
Full coverage of Decision Canada events, and a reflection on last night’s leadership debate will be posted later today.

With Round One — the live French-language debate — complete, the leaders of the four major parties who sparred on French-language television last evening — in a sometimes spirited two-hour debate that many believe could have profound consequences for the June 28 vote — are ready to square off again tonight in a live English-language debate, at 5 p.m. PDT.

“Hey, maybe he’s not so scary, after all” Paul thinks to himself. “Nah, on 2nd thought, he really is.”

For the most part, the French-language debate was a front-runners’ duel, with Prime Minister Paul Martin and Conservative Leader Stephen Harper sparring over who could best handle the all-important issue of health care after June 28.
Staying above the fray, at least to some extent, Martin focused his attack on the Conservatives, saying their $90 billion spending programme would not be able finance an unprecedented increase in funding to the military, and still find a way to provide for an already stretched health-care system. “When you look at his programme, it is impossible to find the $50 billion (for health care),” he said of Harper. “Either he is going to cut in health care, or in other services. You can’t find $50 billion in a period of five years — I know the numbers.”
For his part, Harper rejected the allegation: “The increases for health care in our programme are more than 2 1/2 times more than (the amount) for national defence,” he said.
Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe was pleased to get out of the debate without having to respond to questions on the sovereignty issue. “I was ready to face their questions,” a smiling Duceppe said after the debate.
As for New Democratic Party leader, Jack Layton …

Elections must be about ideas and about hope to build a green and prosperous society. We have to establish ties with progressive minded people in Québéc and across Canada by working — by doing so and working together, we have achieved positive results, the Kyoto Protocol, our position to the war in Iraq, human rights for same-sex couples and for women, work for social housing, and also the struggle for seasonal workers.
— NDP leader, Layton

Layton wasted no time in going after the Prime Minister’s record as finance minister in the 1990s, and said his hunger to pay down the national debt created “social deficits” Canadians could not afford.
Layton then tangled with Harper on the question of Canada’s involvement in the U.S.-led missile defence programme. “We think that Mr. Bush’s administration presents proposals that Canadians don’t want to follow. So why are you not listening to Canadians when they say they do not want to have militarization of space?” Layton said.
As far as the debates go, there are those among the political pundits who feel Prime Minister Martin came out snarling (or at least the hope is that he will in tonight’s English-language debate), while others are not so sure.
Whatever the case, in a federal election this close — and with so many voters still undecided — the importance of tonight’s English-language debate to focus on issues of concern to Canadians, and to more starkly elucidate the differences between the four major party platforms — knockout blow, or lack thereof, notwithstanding — presents an opportunity for the four major party leaders, as well as all Canadians, to focus on the Canada we would choose for our families, and for our neigbours.
For insight into Stephen Harper’s policies, as well as important 2004 federal election news events, click on VanRamblings’ full Decision Canada coverage.