TIME FOR ROUND 1
The first leaders’ debate of the electoral season is on Thursday night in Toronto. Here’s your guide to the contenders, and a look at some of their strengths and weaknesses:
CONSERVATIVE LEADER STEPHEN HARPER
Before politics:
He was a low-level employee at Imperial Oil and earned an MA in economics at the University of Calgary. Harper has been in politics most of his adult life, with a few years at the National Citizens Coalition.
First political impressions:
Just out of university, he was a top policy adviser to Progressive Conservative MP Jim Hawkes but the machinations of Ottawa deeply troubled him. His next political job was with the upstart Reform Party.
Biggest gaffe:
Many would argue it was the appointment of Mike Duffy to the Senate. On more minor gaffes, he went to the Calgary Stampede and wore a cowboy hat backwards. And he went to a Winnipeg Jets game and wore a Team Canada jersey instead of a Jets jersey.
Flagship policy:
Bill C-51, the much-argued antiterror legislation, has defined the latter part of his current mandate. But the stimulus spending plan, which has left the government still struggling to get out of red ink, defined much of his earlier years.
Achilles heel:
He’s one of the least charismatic political leaders in modern Canadian history, and his party has tended to cast everyone from the news media to the Supreme Court as enemies. This lets his actual enemies cast him as mean.
GREEN PARTY LEADER ELIZABETH MAY
Before politics:
May studied to be an Anglican minister, and wanted to be “a nice little old lady Anglican priest with a nice parish somewhere.” She studied law, and wrote eight books, including Global Warming for Dummies.
First political impressions:
Her mother was a political activist, and campaigned for environmental causes including a ban on atmospheric nuclear testing. May rose to prominence as an environmentalist opposed to aerial insecticide spraying.
Biggest gaffe:
At a recent parliamentary press gallery dinner, a slightly unsteady May said Omar Khadr has “more class than the f---ing cabinet.”
Flagship policy promise:
As you’d expect, she wants climate change dealt with in a serious way. May is also a staunch backer of democratic reform such as proportional representation.
Achilles heel:
Prone to occasional excessive rhetoric, she’s also a workaholic, operating 16 hours a day. May has already burned out three assistants.
NDP LEADER TOM MULCAIR
Before politics:
Raised in Montreal as the second of 10 children, he graduated from McGill University law school, worked in the Quebec government’s justice ministry, and was legal affairs director at Alliance Quebec.
First political impressions:
As a civil servant, he fought alongside the federalists in the 1980 Quebec referendum and, in 1994, became an elected Liberal politician in the opposition benches while the Parti Québécois held power. He developed a reputation as a fierce critic.
Biggest gaffe:
His biggest mistake came as an opposition politician in Quebec, when, while in a TV studio, he told a former PQ minister whom he had accused of influence peddling that he looked forward to seeing him go to prison. Mulcair was sued and had to pay $95,000.
Flagship policy promise:
A national childcare scheme that costs $15 per child daily, and a $15-an-hour minimum wage for workers in federally regulated workplaces.
Achilles heel:
He is haunted by the “Angry Tom” nickname (which is why he smiles so much on the hustings), and his political opponents claim his party would not be fiscally responsible in office.
LIBERAL LEADER JUSTIN TRUDEAU
Before politics:
Trudeau grew up at 24 Sussex Drive. As an adult, he taught high school math and French in Vancouver. Trudeau chaired the nowdefunct Katimavik youth volunteering program and was a public speaker for hire.
First political impressions:
After unseating Bloc Québécois MP Vivian Barbot in 2008, his early career was as a junior critic for his party. But after the Liberals’ historic drubbing in 2011, he won the 2013 leadership race, vowing to reunite a fractious party.
Biggest gaffe:
His somewhat awkward sense of humour has been a source of misery for the party, such as his remark, last fall, that fighting ISIL was “not about whipping out our CF-18s to show how big they are.”
Flagship policy promise:
So far, it’s legalizing marijuana. But he also wants to cut taxes for middle-class Canadians by up to $670 per year by imposing a tax hike on the richest one per cent. Also, he would modify the Tories’ Universal Child Care Benefit program so that families earning more than $200,000 a year aren’t eligible, while lower income families would get more money.
Achilles heel:
His opponents deride him as “just not ready.” But his party’s vote to support the controversial antiterror legislation even though the Liberals were uneasy about it may have created a weakness his foes can exploit.