Why doesn’t someone mention the amount the debt was paid down ,why are they not mentioning this savings plan (interest free ) starting soon ??Is copying a speech etc higher on the list ? Why is so little said about split pensions , Is climate control ,50 Billion in taxes more important ? We know gaining power is the only important thing ,but have a little heart for the poor taxpayer !!!

Debate! It was just a gang-up on Harper with lies and not enough time to answer them with the truth.

We are in the process of an election so as to elect a party which will govern the entire country, I am and continue to be at a loss as to why the Bloc Quebecois which only fields candidates in Quebec has been allowed to maintain such a privilege at these debates. It should be established as a requirement that an party that participates in these debates should field candidates in every province of Canada. How can a party such as the BQ address regional issues such as famers freedom of choice or even tar sands development west.

To crib a phrase from a former food ad campaign - Where’s the beef????

Ray
Never mind that the Bloc Quebcois only runs candidates in Quebec but they are a treasonist party. They want to separate from Canada. Not that I really care but what a whacked out political system in this country. They weren’t going to allow Elizabeth May participate in the debate but they allowed a separatist? Only in Canada “A.”

How Stenen Harper kept his cool last night is amazing. But to his credit he managed to do that. I wonder who “All the Canadians” are that insisted Elizabeth May be included in the debate. I am yet to meet one. Thank heaven for the mute button!

I agree with Ray - the Bloc is not of any interest to the ROC - they want to break up the country - WHY are they even in the debate when we can’t vote for them. The country was never this good under the Liberal flag - I hope Canadians see through all the smoke & mirrors. Canada has returned to the world stage thanks to the Conservatives. Don’t change it!

If all NATIONAL parties would sign and publish an agreement about the criteria for inclusion in a NATIONAL debate, this issue MIGHT finally be put to bed. People in Quebec might finally realize supporting the Bloc is essentially a waste of time.
Unfortunately the ‘public’ would likely lambast the current government for signing the agreement and thus eliminate any support they had in Quebec…and strenghten the hold of the Bloc in the province.
Of course those in Quebec that DON’T vote for the Bloc have to ask themselves ‘how do we get the other 70% of the voters to vote for the same party and clearly defeat the Bloc in their own backyard?’. Even if they only did it ONCE, it would likely be enough.

Totalling boring!–I watched it in French off and on but spent more time watching CNN and MNBC in order to get the results of the US Senate vote on the Bailout Package. Gilles Duceppe is a good debater but is totally irrelevent outside Quebec. Harper kept his cool but needs to show more passion tonight in English.

What does choice in health care mean to the NCC?
Choice to buy your own health care insurance to get bet “better” care, then go through what Americans do and sell your house to get the proper care when the health insurance company won’t pay?

I agree with all the bloggers in particular Ray and Tony.
I struggled to watch most of it and have never watched anything so excruciatingly boring. The tactics and arguments were all so predictable.
With respect to the Globe and Mail poll of this morning, it has no validity because the sample size is too small.
I question the sample size of 637(?). This would have been the total number of people who watched it and they would have all been political science students assigned to watch it and do a report on it.
Arnie

Debate? I watched four political party leaders (?) attack Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party with one intent and that is to ensure the Conservatives would not get a majority government. It sounded more like Question Period in the House of Commons than it did a debate. I believe that the majority of people watching were impressed with the wonderful way Stephen Harper handled himself.

Russ
rgrennie@shaw.ca

Not a debate, just a get Harper night. It was a dead loss. I doubt if many Canadians outside of Quebec bothered to watch it. Watching a kindergarten class would have been more interesting.

In football terms, somebody should have been penalized for ‘piling on’. In boxing terms, Harper proved he can sure take a hit and still come out a winner.

And who was that loud voiced national scold wagging her finger and berating the P.M. like some angry school marm?

With all the rhetoric about Harpers failings where were the leaders of the opposition during the “reign of terror” by Mr. Harper. They could have opposed any one of the issues then and brought the government down but they chose not to do so because it would not be opportune politically. I like Harper, I think he is operating reasonably in the right direction on behalf of Canadians but the opposition certainly werent operating in the best interests of their constituents if they did not oppose what they thought wasnt being done right. They are thinking totally about their party instead of Canadians.

Missed the first part and just about fell asleep during the second part. 4 left wingers ganging up on Harper who was trying his best not to sound conservative. Unfortunately in Canada there are too many who have been led to believe that conservative is a four letter word.
It will take a painful crisis to make them understand it is the taxpayer that pays for all these giveaways.

Its obscene, taxpayer money that goes toward paying the salaries of BQ members of Parliament that have no national agenda with the exception of protecting Quebec’s interests in Canada. Hopefully Quebecers will begin to realize that this exercise is counterproductive and a waste of valuable resources that could be put to better use, the question becomes who can fill the electoral void that keeps pushing Quebecers towards the BQ. This needs to be addressed due to the fact that it will continue to cripple any forward movement of a perceived national common front. Canada is and still remains two countries (cultures) that remain unable to reconcile their differences. It’s time to look beyond history & culture and address the future of this country within a greater global context.

I heard someone on a talk show say - why should we trust the Conservatives when they ran up such a huge deficit last time they were in power? - I think the guest speaker, Finance Minister Jim Flaretty, should have said ‘Mulroney was a Bay Street lawyer - like all the other Prime Ministers in the past 40 years, and Mr. Harper is an economist’. Guess that would not be politically correct! It is true but I don’t think the media is big on truth.
I heard Mr. Harper say one time ‘I am an economist not a Hollywood movie star’ in response to why he was so stiff in front of the cameras.
Mr. Manning was critisized for his appearance, voice, mannerisms etc. too and yet nerdy Dion gets a pass. The CBC went so far as to say Mr. Dion has a ‘hearing impairment’ that is why is english is so poor.
You would almost get the idea the media in this country is biased or something.

After last night’s debacle,the best thing to do to save time and money is just play a continual loop of the 4 horsemen of the coming apocaplypse shouting “YOU ARE GEORGE BUSH’ and Harper saying”NO,I AM NOT”.

Agree 100% with first comment from Ken.

Harper seemed quite content to let opposotion make their criticisms last night without slamming back with the many Consevative specific income improvements for the average taxpayer.
let’s hope he does so tonight .r

The moderator last night was one of the wost kind. Little wonder due to the many years of Liberal control over most of our media. Here in our town the Liberal candidate is a university instructor. The Liberals have had a very long time to embed themselves into our educational institutions. Now they are fighting hard to take back control from Conservatives. This election is not about issues but logistics of a war of population control.

I agree with John and Ray Penta. It was a gang-up on the Prime Minister and masterfully orchestrated. The Prime Ministed had little time to reply from questions left and right and that Ms. May was just a total waste of space. Bloc Quebecois is not a Canadian party as a whole, yet we have to cater with them. Their MPs draw salaries from Canadian taxpayers and yet their only goal is to separate. Why can’t they get their salalries from the Quebec taxpayers ?

It is 18:20 on Thursday October 2, 2008, and I am watching the debate. Jack Layton, his name should be “Jack Ass”. the only thing he knows is to be insulting on top of being a total socialist. Elizabeth May she has no brains talks of the top of her invironmentally infested head. Stephan Dion, tipical french and liberal, promises, promises, doesn’t really now what he is talking about. Don’t ever forget what the Liberal’s did to the Canadian people in the last decade. Gilles Duceppe well, he has to say what he has to say, to keep the block happy.
Stephan Harper kept his cool, I really don”t know how he did it, he is a better man, that I am, ducking insults and stupid remarks and suggestions and insane promises by the others, I truly think that he very much deserverves the confidence of all Canadian people. to become our Prime Minister.