We extol about how much better Canada runs its elections and races compared to the United States. Leaders will talk on party differences instead of personal attacks.
American politicians can use the excuse of the months-long campaigns. Canadian politicians can be civil for 36 days.
Erin O'Toole (Conservatives) lost it during the last week of campaigning. "I’d say he’s (Justin Trudeau) all talk and no action,” O’Toole said during a campaign event outside Ottawa. “But this is worse — a person so blinded by his own ambition that he can’t see the rot in his own party. A man who is not a feminist, not an environmentalist, not a public servant. A man who’s focused solely and squarely on himself.”
Trudeau is “privileged, entitled and always looking out for number one,” which is what he was doing when he called an election that's nothing more than a power grab, O'Toole said.
O'Toole has built up a persona of a kinder, gentler conservative, true or not. You could argue that what O'Toole said wasn't that bad. This was rather mean by Canadian standards. If O'Toole somehow wins a minority, he might feel compelled to apologize for this. If Trudeau wins a minority, O'Toole as leader of the opposition will look weaker.
Disagree on approaches, not personalities.
Conservative leader Erin O’Toole cancelled a scheduled interview with @CTVNews, for our series of sit-downs with party leaders running this week. He would not reschedule, unfortunately. (We had Justin Trudeau last night, Jagmeet Singh tonight and Annamie Paul in next few days.) pic.twitter.com/8TperRVeEV
— Glen McGregor (@glen_mcgregor) September 17, 2021
We could start a political adage, "Look how a leader behaves in the final week of a campaign." Hiding is never a good sign. We blasted Justin Trudeau for blowing off debates in 2019 and Stephen Harper for blowing off more important debates in 2015.
O'Toole hiding from CTV can't be a good sign. That would be like Jagmeet Singh or Annamie Paul hiding from The Tyee.
Speaking of hiding, for the second federal race in a row, Doug Ford, premier of Ontario, has been in the unofficial witness protection program. Not sure whether that benefits Trudeau or O'Toole in key Ontario ridings, especially in the 905. Always find hiding to be intriguing.
Canada election 2021: The debate over the impact of debates
We were highly critical of the use of a polling person to be the moderator of the only English language debate. We had issues with Shachi Kurl (president of the Angus Reid Institute) for her need to interrupt the leaders on a random basis and asking questions poorly (i.e., the Bill 21 question).
We like to offer solutions as well as offer criticism. Neetu Garcha of Global BC should be the moderator for the next English language debate. You might remember in the beginning of the campaign that we highlighted her interview with Erin O'Toole. We used that as a contrast to Global national anchor Dawna Friesen's lazy question on Twitter.
Garcha's name also came up in the last Short Cuts version of Canadaland. They were talking about an Justin Trudeau interview where Trudeau complained at the end that they didn't cover all he wanted to discuss. I wondered whether this was the same reporter as the one for the O'Toole interview.
For those who sometimes argue about whether we are a Trudeau apologist, we ask journalists to be tough on everyone regardless of their party status. Be good and consistent.
.@FrontBurnerCBC spent 28 minute episode on @liberal_party and @CPC_HQ. Only took 21 minutes on @NDP and @CanadianGreens. Even spent part of that reduced time on #MaximeBernier. @CBCNews #cdnjournalism
— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) September 18, 2021
Speaking of inconsistent, Jayme Poisson of the Front Burner CBC news podcast took a look at the major parties platforms. Her take with Vassy Kapelos in 2019 was a disaster on multiple levels. They focused almost exclusively on the two major parties and treated the NDP and Greens with little time on the actual content and the majority of time beating up on those parties.
We don't hate listen to Front Burner but we do find if we know even a little about the topic in an episode, we learn very little new information. Imagine the gift of a news podcast devoted to a single topic and never really exploring that issue with any significant depth.
The 2021 version was better; still not great but better. First helpful thing: switch out Kapelos and bring in Ryan Maloney from the CBC. Huge improvement. Maloney was straightforward instead of the cynicism from the combo of Kapelos and Poisson.
Second helpful thing: group Liberals and Conservatives together. The 2019 version had a "major" party matched with a "minor" party so the "minor" party got very little time.
However, the Liberals and Conservatives episode lasted 28 minutes. The "other" parties episode lasted 21 minutes. That isn't even the appearance of fair. During the "major" parties episode, Poisson referred to the other episode but didn't say any of the other parties names out loud.
They covered the NDP and Greens platforms but Poisson said they wouldn't discuss affordability or climate change because those topics were covered (poorly) on other podcast episodes. Poisson's decision to cover a party without any current members in the House (think really right-wing) was "justified" because of their position in the polls. The polls, besides not being newsworthy, aren't a true representation of where they will finish with the voters and almost no chance of winning an actual seat in Parliament.
Front Burner got a lot better when other people were guest hosts late in the summer.
Dine in restaurants when you feel safe, not because of a political stunt
Erin O'Toole and the Conservatives took a page from the UK Conservatives playbook with the Dine and Discover program. While popular (perhaps too popular) in the UK, the difference is that the idea is a cheap, short-term fix for an industry that needs a lot more help. We covered this extensively for our sibling blog, BalanceofFood.com.
A month means 12 days of a 50% discount. A lot of restaurants in Toronto are normally closed on Mondays. Many restaurants are closed Tuesdays or Wednesdays during the pandemic. Restaurants that are struggling would incur costs offering cheaper food. A gimmick on top of more substantial policy is better than just a gimmick.
Canada election 2021: Helping Canadian content creators on where their vote should go
We also covered the impact of the upcoming Canadian election on Canadian content creators, especially Canadian film and Canadian TV. The impact on the CBC under Conservative rule. Bill C-10, warts and all. You can look up the platforms of the major parties via I Am Canadian Content and see where the parties stand on issues important to Canadian content creators.
Canada election 2021: What we learned from the first leaders debate
Canada election 2021: How manipulated media entered the political lexicon
Canada election 2021: Conservative Willy Wonka ad is the opposite of a good start
2021 Canada election preview
In the shocked/not shocked category, intercity bus travel did not come up in the campaign. For our friends at BalanceofFood.com, food supply and safety did not come up in the campaign. Indigenous issues hardly came up. We had the recent discovery of graves of over a thousand Indigenous children at residential schools. No one wore orange, if you know what we mean.
Ian Austen of The New York Times concurs about the lack of coverage on Indigenous issues. Austen runs the Canada Letter newsletter for the newspaper.
You likely have 2-3 issues of your own that the federal campaign did not address. Some of these issues could have come up in debates in local ridings. We know so little about these debates that could really give a sense of what is happening on the ground.
You might have a sense of what party could deliver on those topics. So much of the coverage is on the federal party leaders but Canadians vote directly for their MP (member of Parliament).
Canada election 2019: Diary of an 'insurance broker'
Those voters encrusted with a party or some who go back and forth but only between like minded parties (such as NDP and the Greens) may be confused by the idea of the "undecided voter." How can they truly be undecided? Are they "undecided" because they could get on TV such as being on Canada Votes: Face to Face.
The many voters who go back and forth between the Conservatives and Liberals is a real phenomenon. They are in other provinces not just in Ontario. As someone who has covered politics in Canada and the United States, those people always confuse me. When they vote, they are the swing factor in many key ridings.
Rosemary Barton was back with 4 undecided voters (down from 5 in 2019) for each party leader. The good news is that CBC News made the segments more fair than they were in 2019. Barton was reasonably tough on all the party leaders.
One key difference is that the audience was virtual on Zoom so we couldn't get a reaction to what the leaders said. Barton had to pass on how they were reacting.
Singh used the analogy of the tough fight to get universal health care to dealing with for-profit long-term care homes and pharmacare. What Singh could have mentioned is that universal health care advanced in a Liberal minority government (Lester Pearson) with help from the NDP (Tommy Douglas).
Trudeau got a great question from Ty in Bowmanville, ON that all of the leaders should have addressed. Did find it a bit odd that Ty lives in Erin O'Toole's riding. O'Toole is from Bowmanville, which I learned from watching This Hour Has 22 Minutes this week.
There were more "undecided voters" who were definitely leaning toward the party leader they were addressing. Paul had 2 of her 4 undecided voters say they had voted Green in the past.
O'Toole explained his childcare support slightly better than in the debates. He talked about the 75% support for those under $30,000. Getting that $30,000 figure took several rounds of questioning from Jason Hawkins of Toronto, who was excellent. Still not sure I get the whole plan and how supply of spaces will increase.
Full segments on video
Summaries
If you are looking for hear some of those highlights if you are pressed for time, Rosemary Barton was on with Jayme Poisson on Front Burner, her CBC News podcast, about the face-to-face sessions.
A lot of pressure on This Hour Has 22 Minutes for a singular election show in 2021. How well did the show deliver in its new timeslot of 8 pm local time?
Mark Critch had fun with Jagmeet Singh on his plane as well as Justin Trudeau. The Singh segment had some nice zings from Critch. The Trudeau segment had fun with the beard but otherwise not as sharp. Singh and Trudeau get what Critch is trying to do and they are in on the fun.
Mary Walsh as Marg Delahunty had fun with coming up with nicknames for all the party leaders. Delahunty handed a sword to Green Party leader Annamie Paul in a news conference in Ottawa.
The video (above) was a great highlight about what happens when Conservatives want to take away the clippity cloppity horse show (Heartland) on CBC.
Leonard Chan went on a "search" for Erin O'Toole in Bowmanville, ON. Chan had a great line about how O'Toole hates him because he was an environmental engineer and now works for the CBC. That would not have happened if O'Toole had accepted their invitation to be on the show.
The vote-splitting fake Conservative ad was sharply on point.
There were some misses: Aba Amuquandoh and Stacey McGunnigle sang a song about objectifying the party leaders and then shifted to about how one of them literally didn't know how to vote.
We loved the core of recent years of Mark Critch, Cathy Jones, Shawn Majumder, and Susan Kent. We know the show has had to be more diverse. Jones has been there from the start but left the show. Kent went away quietly as she has shifted more to acting work such as the Canadian film Spinster and Canadian TV show Pretty Hard Cases.
Majumder, part of that diversity, was fired in 2018 for reasons that still seem bizarre. Trent McClellan has improved since joining the show in 2017. Aba Amuquandoh just joined the show in 2021. Featured players Stacey McGunnigle and Chris Wilson started out on Tuesday.
By the time the next election comes along, this new core will find their voices and improve.
Canadians can watch that episode of This Hour Has 22 Minutes on CBC Gem. The Trudeau segment and the Heartland segments are on the show's Facebook page.
2021 Canadian politics preview
Canadian politics coverage on CanadianCrossing.com
Not related to the federal election, Manitoba will have a female premier for the first time on or around October 30. The only 2 names on the ballot for the Progressive Conservatives are MLA Heather Stefanson and former Conservative MP Shelly Glover. Ballot isn't for the voters; party members will pick the next premier on October 30.
Editor's note: We will have a comprehensive guide with all of our election notebooks tomorrow morning at 8 am Eastern/9:30 am in Newfoundland.
photo credits: CBC News; Global BC
Twitter captures: @glen_mcgregor; @canadian_xing
video credit: This Hour Has 22 Minutes/CBC
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