This is a tale of two debates - one that made me despair, as many Canadians have this election, for the state of our state, and another that restored my faith entirely.
First I went to Kildonan East Collegiate where an energetic teacher organized an afternoon forum Tuesday for the Elmwood-Transcona candidates. That's one of the city's tightest contests, where the NDP are hoping to hang on to retiring MP Bill Blaikie's seat. The Tories are hoping to steal it, and they've drafted Tory Thomas Steen, the former Winnipeg Jet, to get 'er done.
At Kildonan East, Steen was slated to emerge from hiding and finally do battle with NDPer Jim Maloway at an all-candidates debate, events Tories across the country have been shunning.
I've been to a lot of student debates and I am often impressed with the quality of the questions. Sadly, not so at Kildonan East. There were few queries and they were largely inane.
The candidates were an even sadder collection.
Jim Maloway, the perennial provincial backbencher, blustered a little about the Disraeli Bridge reconstruction, his pet issue in the riding. Maloway the maverick has represented the provincial half of Elmwood-Transcona for 23 years to little effect. Several people within the party were dejected when it became clear he was the best candidate the NDP muster up in such a safe seat.
Then there's Steen, who only answered questions when he had a tabbed page in his briefing binder he could flip to for a pre-written answer. When he didn't have one, he either declined to speak or apologized with an "I'm new at this." He read virtually every word he uttered, with a bemused and gentle smile.
He is by all accounts and appearances a lovely and honourable gentleman -- he made a bee line for Maloway after the debate to shake his hand. But he is radically out of his depth, muzzled by his party and unfamiliar with the issues.
After the debate, he signed autographs for students, something he's spent a lot of time doing at the doorstep. Just recently, the party put out a flyer -- orange on the front, so it looks like NDP propaganda -- that painted Maloway as a do-nothing backbencher and Steen as a strong voice in government for the riding. Nowhere on it did the words "Conservative Party" appear, which suggests the Tories hope voters will be a little star-struck and won't look much past that and the party or the politician.
Continuing on down the debate table, the Liberal candidate was downright bizarre, rambling about communists at one point.
Only the Green guy, teacher Chris Hrynkow, made any kind of coherent impression. The student moderators agreed, and he was clearly the student favourite.
Standing in the back as the Liberal went on another wacky tangent and Steen riffled through his notes, I wondered if I wasn't witnessing the end of democracy as we know it. This is as bad as it gets.
Then I drove to Altona to cover an all-candidates debate in the school board office there. I went to check out Tory candidate Candice Hoeppner in the flesh, since she is almost sure to win Portage-Lisgar, the safest Tory seat outside Alberta.
She is a force to be reckoned with. She's uber-organized, smart, well-spoken, well-connected and, let's just say it, attractive. It's not supposed to matter, but it does. That the Tories found someone other than a backbench time-server to take over a safe seat is a refreshing change. I suspect sometime in the future I'll be writing "Manitoba's senior minister" before her name, assuming the Tories stay in power.
Hoeppner is a very fine candidate amid a batch of fine candidates. Unlike Elmwood-Transcona, any one of the five people running in Portage-Lisgar would make a credible MP. Voters there can choose between moppy-haired and earnest young farmer Charlie Howatt for the Greens, the rather erudite labour activist Mohamed Alli ("Yes, that is my name. I love it!") who is running for the NDP and the plain-spoken Ted Klassen for the Liberals. He kicked off the night with an eloquent plea for tolerance and equality that set the tone for the evening. Even Christian Heritage candidate Len Lodder, whose party tends to send cringeworthy nominees to these kinds of debates, was confident, likeable and well-spoken.
Fine candidates are one thing. Smart voters are icing on the cake. The questions from Altonans were wide-ranging, intelligent and pointed but polite. They covered copyright law, Colombian human rights abuses, the listeriosis outbreak, sports funding and roads. The candidates tried to answer even the stumpers, and they needled each other just enough to keep it interesting. Everyone knew everyone else and they teased each other a little. The debate ran like clockwork with just enough latitude for some older folks who'd earned it. It was an honour to sit in the corner.
Pundits and the public have been saying this is the worst election in recent memory, with cut-rate candidates and no substance. If I lived in Elmwood-Transcona, I'd probably agree. Luckily, I got to go to Altona.
maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca
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