Finally, the gloves are off. That's what most New Democrats who decided to watch last weekend's leadership debate in St. John's thought as they watched the contestants actually debate.
Because many were rightfully wondering if this debate was worth watching, considering what had happened during the first three debates and especially since the only one who seemed interested in sparring, Pat Stogran, had abandoned his quest for the NDP crown. If they didn't tune in though, they missed a good one.
From the start, Guy Caron showed that he was ready to rumble. He used his opening statement to challenge all of his opponents on a specific point. He challenged Angus to explain how being pragmatic over being aspirational was going to win over Canadians, he pointed out that Singh was late to the race and had yet to commit to run federally, win or lose. Caron singled out Ashton's lack of specifics regarding solutions to tackle precarious work and he wondered where Peter Julian would get the $100 billion for his free tuition and social housing plan.
It took some time for the other candidates to get warmed up, but they eventually did. One of the most interesting points in the debate happened when Charlie Angus picked up where Caron left off and asked Jagmeet Singh if he was with the Federal Party for the long run, if he was going to run federally no matter what. Singh danced around the issue, stating that as a New Democrat, he was already working to elect New Democrats at all levels and jurisdictions. Faced with this non-answer, Angus pushed back and Singh lost his cool, wagging his finger at Charlie, reminding him that it was "not his turn."
Angus also went after Ashton on the practicality of her proposal regarding free tuition, especially considering it is a provincial jurisdiction. Neither her nor Julian could really explain how free tuition would work.
There was a deep, thoughtful exchange which policy geeks thoroughly enjoyed when Ashton went after Caron's signature policy on basic income, pointing out that it had also been proposed by right-wing politicians like Kathleen Wynne. Caron defended his proposal fairly well, with a detailed explanation of his model and its advantages over other basic income plans. Caron didn't leave it there, he immediately counter-attacked, once again wondering where were Ashton's specifics on policies to fight poverty.
Finally, Niki Ashton and Peter Julian went really hard after Singh on the Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, demanding his position here and now. Singh dodged and deferred, saying he needed more time to consult with stakeholders and with Notley's Alberta government and Horgan's soon-to-be government. Singh was able to buy some time by using some Mulcair-like language about balancing environment and economical interests of both provinces, but his lack of position will be hard to sustain in the long run.
Pipeline politics is clearly the most explosive issue of the leadership race. The BC and Alberta wings are at odds and it offers an immediate, bold contrast with Justin Trudeau, a contrast that Julian and Ashton are clearly eager to establish.
Kudos to party officials, who decided to change the format in order to allow more exchanges and brought in a new segment dubbed "Question Period" to let candidates ask questions of their own. The candidates were a bit tentative at times and they still agreed on a lot of things, but there is no question that there has been a shift in the tone of the race. The silly season might have started on Parliament Hill, but New Democrats are now digging into very serious business. Differences and contrasts will now be the order of the day. That's a good thing.
Photo Credit: CBC News
