The first week of campaigning for the twenty-fifteen federal election has wrapped up with the candidates for the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding weighing in on who they thought won the McLean’s debate and why.
Unsurprisingly, the candidates each felt their leader had emerged triumphant, but for many different reasons.
Incumbent and Conservative candidate Cathy McLeod gives her opinion on why Stephen Harper reigned supreme.
“In my opinion, the Prime Minister demonstrated that he’s the only one who is a serious choice. His real world experience, especially in terms of international affairs and the economy, really stood out.”Â
Meanwhile, New Democrat Bill Sundhu was impressed by Thomas Mulcair’s performance
“Stephen Harper kept repeating the line “let me be clear,” and my reaction after the debate was that it was clear that the best leader to replace Harper is Thomas Mulcair. I thought he had the most substance and objective positioning – he didn’t say anything that he couldn’t later back up factually.”
Green party representative Matthew Greenwood – whose leader was excluded from debates in the two-thousand eleven election – enjoyed seeing what Elizabeth May could bring to the festivities
“I thought Elizabeth May held her own quite nicely. She served as the factual tether of the debate – a kind of fact checker when certain other leaders kept trying to make things true by just saying them over and over again.”
Justin Trudeau had the most to lose or gain says Liberal Steve Powrie who was pleased with the how the Grits leader handled himself.
“Probably the most to gain or lose was Trudeau. So I think he needed to be strong, and he was strong. I was really happy with the way it turned out. He was right there with everyone else and came up with some good jabs and clarification of policy.”
Taking place just four days after the writ was dropped, Thursday’s debate served as the first of five public clashes between the major party leaders leading up to the October nineteen federal election.