TRUDEAU KNOCKS MULCAIR DOWN A PEG
Liberal leader relentless and assured as contenders meet in French debate
It was a contest Tom Mulcair needed to win hands- down in order to maintain his momentum as the dominant federal political leader in Quebec. Instead the NDP leader battled to yet another draw, if that, as his archrival, Justin Trudeau, delivered his most assured performance of the campaign so far.
Mulcair was his usual measured self, though a bit perfunctory at times; Stephen Harper was quietly methodical; Green Leader Elizabeth May made a game effort, despite her laboured French; and Trudeau, calmer than in his previous outing but constantly on the attack, was relentless.
Time and time again as the debate in Montreal progressed, the Liberal leader repeated his key ballot questions — lower taxes for the majority, big investment in infrastructure and jobs — in clear, declarative sentences, as the other candidates argued with him or among themselves.
The overall impression, accentuated by the positioning of the candidates onstage, was of Harper and Trudeau in clearest opposition to one another on economic and social issues, while Mulcair and Trudeau battled on Canadian unity and the Senate. Because Trudeau kept his answers brief and to the point, and repeated his core positions often, he appeared to get the final word in many of the two- way exchanges.
The more telling disagreements, unsurprisingly, revolved around the niqab, the partial veil worn by some Muslim women, and whether it should or should not be allowed at citizenship ceremonies. There were also spirited exchanges concerning the Senate, national unity and refugees.
The Conservatives have fought a long battle, in the face of court decisions to the contrary, to entrench their rule that no veil may be worn during a citizenship ceremony. The Bloc Québécois has picked up this refrain and, if anything, campaigned harder on it than the Conservatives. Trudeau’s Liberals have argued that government has no right to interfere in a woman’s choice of what to wear. And the NDP have sounded conflicted at times. In Quebec, the Conservative position is overwhelmingly popular.
Harper framed his argument Thursday in terms of women’s rights, saying he would never want his daughter to be forced to wear a veil. Trudeau responded that, since he opposed a man’s telling a woman what to wear, he also must oppose the state’s doing so. Mulcair reiterated the NDP’s support for a woman’s right to wear what she chooses, while also stressing her identity must first be established by removing the veil. The impression was that the NDP leader was caught betwixt and between.
On the refugee question that has been front and centre through much of this campaign, Harper said, “This is not the time to throw open the doors. We must maintain our selection system to assure our security.”
Trudeau shot back: “It’s time Canada became a more welcoming country. We’ve always balanced security with generosity. This is a distraction.”
The campaign early this week was dominated by debate over procurement, in particular the F- 35 fighter project. Trudeau pronounced himself categorically against the plan to buy 65 of the U. S.- made planes, the purchase of which was shelved in late 2012 amid controversy over its spiralling costs. He raised the issue again Thursday, hammering Harper for countenancing the purchase and accusing Mulcair of sharing his position. In fact the NDP’s stance is that no plane should be excluded from any future competition; but Trudeau got the best of the exchange.
On the perennial question of the Clarity Act and Quebec separation, Mulcair found himself trapped between Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe to his right, and Trudeau to his left. Duceppe attacked him for not being nationalist enough, whereas Trudeau chided him for having one message in English and another in French, in other words pandering to nationalist sentiment. The clash over Clarity was Mulcair’s strongest moment of the debate, but also among Trudeau’s strongest forays, as he stated the country’s future should not turn on a single vote.
Mulcair has been and remains the king of Quebec, based on the polls: At last juncture, the NDP held just under 39 per cent support among decided voters in La Belle Province, compared with 24 per cent for Trudeau’s Liberals, 18 per cent for Harper’s Conservatives and 16 per cent for the Bloc under comeback hopeful Duceppe.
Entering the debate, however, the NDP had been slipping marginally from a position of absolute dominance in the high 40s, with Conservatives and Bloc gaining slightly and Liberals holding steady.
Given Mulcair’s softening numbers in the Rest of Canada ( ROC) in recent days, particularly Ontario, a solid win Thursday was a must- have for him. It will be difficult to argue he achieved anything close to that.
For Trudeau, who has been gaining ground slowly but steadily in Ontario for the past couple of weeks, the French- language debate was an opportunity to break the deadlocked race open, by making inroads in a region where the Liberals have until now been relatively weak. It remains to be seen whether his performance has that effect.
The more telling disagreements, unsurprisingly, revolved around the niqab.