Don Martin: Trudeau lost the debate, but the voters may not notice -- or care
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau lost, but didn’t face the sort of devastating smackdown which would end his prime ministerial prospects.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole didn’t lose, but failed to unleash high-calibre firepower to generate enough buzz to enhance his prime ministerial prospects.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh doled out his predictable everything-for-everyone lines well, which likely solidified his support for third place.
And Green Party Leader Annamie Paul won the debate, but it just doesn’t matter because she probably won’t win her Toronto seat and may be lucky to see even Elizabeth May re-elected.
As for the leader who whined, that would be Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet on being denied his share of talking time. Well, he has little to no electoral skin in this game so let’s just move on.
- Recap CTVNews.ca's fact checks and analysis of the debate
- Election Dispatch: Sign up for a daily update on the campaign
That would seem to be the line on winners and losers last night, for what it’s worth, as the one and only English language debate disappears into the archives.
It might not be worth much, to be honest.
If 2019 polling is any guide to this sleepy showdown, less than half of Canadians knew the debate was happening and less than half of those tuned in.
Of those who resisted the lure of the U.S. Open, the Yankee-sweeping Blue Jays and the NFL season opener to watch it, the only viewers who matter live in 50 ridings with enough swing potential to decide the next government.
Besides, pundits and public perceptions rarely dovetail on these winners and losers.
Still, if just for fun, let us continue with debate analysis.
For starters, spare some pity for debate moderator Shachi Kurl of the Angus Reid Institute, who generated more controversy than any leader for trying to herd five howling cats through an impossibly short time limit on answers which, incredibly, had her forcing some leaders into five-SECOND rebuttals on complicated disagreements.
Brutal stuff, but it wasn’t her format.
And show some empathy for the journalists, who are also getting hammered on social media, for asking good (albeit lengthy) questions and trying to pry actual answers from leaders programmed to avoid saying anything.
Making the leaders who want to run our country uncomfortable in their usual habit of fluffing off hard questions is a good thing.
But I digress. So back to the leaders.
The biggest problem confronting Trudeau last night remains his chronic failure to add any real justification for this election as an urgent referendum on long-range renewal for Canada.
I know, I know, I need a new line of complaint about this campaign.
But his answers tended to zero in on what his government has done in the past with little emphasis on the way forward, which makes a mockery of an election called just as the fourth COVID-19 wave went rogue while we were botching the evacuation of our allies from Afghanistan.
In lieu of a future vision, all we saw was an angry torrent of quips Trudeau seemed to be in a moistly-articulated rush to get out before he forgot his rehearsed lines.
And then there was the moment he turned to Annamie Paul, after she noted he had forced out several top female ministers from his cabinet, to scold her with “I won’t take lessons on caucus management from you.” That had to generate an alarming groan from his war room.
Erin O’Toole, by contrast, did his bland best to remain calm and sound competent while trying to make his bizarre carbon savings accounts and termination of the Liberal $10-a-day daycare appear reasonable.
It wasn’t entirely successful, but he looked harmless enough, which was undoubtedly the prime directive from his handlers.
And give Jagmeet Singh this much: He had the line of the night when talk turned to residential schools and Trudeau delivered his usual mushy lines.
“How do you trust a PM who takes knee one day and takes Indigenous children to court the next?” Singh fumed. Ouch.
Trudeau denied this was the case, but respected advocate Cindy Blackstock, who is leading the legal challenge to secure compensation for substandard social services on reserves, took to social media minutes later to say it was very much true.
To sum up, IF this is one of those rare times when a single debate decides the outcome of an election, then Trudeau has even greater cause to worry today then he did pre-debate.
Fortunately for him this lineup of leaders was more scripted than a North Korean newscast and trapped in a format that encouraged Canadians to change the channel.
Undoubtedly, most of them did just that.
That’s the bottom line.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
The story of how a B.C. man found his birth mother
After his adopted parents died, Dave Rogers set out to learn more about his birth mother. DNA results and a little help from friendly strangers would put him on a path to a small town in England.
Montreal man on the hook for thousands of dollars after a feature on his Tesla caused an accident
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Italy's white-collar mafia is making a business killing
Italy's mafia rarely dirties its hands with blood these days. Extortion rackets have gone out of fashion and murders are largely frowned upon by the godfathers.
Spike in 'violent rhetoric' since Oct. 7 attack from 'extremist actors,' CSIS warns
The Israel-Hamas war has led to a spike in 'violent rhetoric' from 'extremist actors' that could prompt some in Canada to turn to violence, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service warns.
Russia announces nuclear weapon drills after angry exchange with senior Western officials
Russia plans to hold drills simulating the use of battlefield nuclear weapons, the Defense Ministry announced Monday, days after the Kremlin reacted angrily to comments by senior Western officials about the war in Ukraine and Moscow warned that tensions with the West are deepening.
Summer forecast: What to expect as El Nino weakens
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza's Rafah ahead of an expected assault
The Israeli army ordered some 100,000 Palestinians on Monday to begin evacuating from the southern city of Rafah, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent and further complicating efforts to broker a cease-fire in Gaza.
Local Spotlight
'Love has no boundaries': Sask. couple in their 90s and 80s get married
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Twin Alberta Ballet dancers retire after 15 years with company
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
Video shows gaggle of geese stopping traffic on Highway 1 near Vancouver
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Canada's oldest hat store still going strong after 90 years
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Road closed in Oak Bay, B.C., so elephant seal can cross
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.