04.13.2011 05:15 PM

The French debate

…I won’t be watching it!  I’m going to be at the Raptors season-ender with the Heat, and the seats are worth a small fortune.  I don’t plan to give them away.

So, to the extent I can (Rogers totally sucks at the ACC) I will be approving your comments about the debate, and what is happening.

Take the controls, faithful wk.com readers!

35 Comments

  1. Jeff says:

    there was a site called “shit harper did” ( http://www.shitharperdid.com/ ) that caught my eye today. i posted it on facebook and later learned from some friends that it has been taken down. wonder why and by whom?

    here’s a link to the cache: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:OCU2aciraBAJ:www.shitharperdid.com/+shit+harper+did&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&source=www.google.ca

  2. Despite persistent lobbying, we were unable to have the French Debate moved to accommodate my son’s baseball game which overlaps nearly exactly le debat.

    Fortunately neither the debate nor the the baseball game will (much) interfere with watching the Canucks vs Blackhawks series opener later this evening.

  3. Michael S says:

    Shit’s back up after the ISP got more loonies in the slot!

  4. Philippe says:

    Iggy performing well early, evoking “Madame Payer” constantly makes him seem like the leader that’s closest to regular folks.

  5. Philippe says:

    At this point my question is how in the hell is it that Iggy is so much more awesome in French than in English? He comes across as a totally different person. Duceppe not stealing the show thus far.

    • MCBellecourt says:

      I’m not so sure that it’s the English/French thing, but rather that the English debate was the first-ever political debate of this nature Mr. Ignatieff has done. He was *the* rookie, and I gotta tell ya, when the stakes are so high, he must have felt like Daniel walking into the lions’ den

      Which only tells me (beside the fact that he was a war correspondent at one time), that his balls clank when he walks!

      Coming into the French debate, he was no longer a first-timer, and since he is fluent in both English and French (plus other languages!), I think the “second night” factor is the only factor here.

      I know what it feels like. The second night of my first pro gig was a lot easier than the first one–by a mile! I probably sounded a lot better, too.

  6. pomo says:

    I am watching the translated debate…anyone here care to weigh in on who speaks French with more ease/ fluency..? Most improved? Most eloquent/ convincing…Also, I noted a couple of live-blog comments about the answers being more telling in French because the anglo leaders can’t pull off as much nuance and skirting in French. Thoughts on that?

  7. visionseeker says:

    Different debate, same result in my opinion: No Federalist Winner.

    First, the French of all 3 federalist candidates is too poor for at least 30-40% of francophones to take them seriously. Second, Duceppe was free to pull-out sovergntist myths through-out that were left to float in the air unchallenged. Third, Duceppe spoke of the 155 seat gorilla and declared that Jack Layton can never be Prime Minister. Fourth, Ignatieff might have thawed a few francophone hearts with his efforts, but he didn?t give the performance or appearance of a winner. Fifth, Harper might lose some standing as he was neither Canada?s defender or trying to seduce Qu

    • Philippe says:

      As a francophone I disagree 100%. I thought the Anglo leaders were superbly eloquent in French, and Quebecois appreciate their efforts. They were in some ways better than the English debate because they had to slow down their speech somewhat rather than trying to get a zillion points across in a few nano-seconds. Ignatieff in particular struck me as the eloquent and intelligent leader we were all expecting back in the day. He was obviously more at ease and his speech flowed very well. Just hope it’s not too late.

      • Travis Fast says:

        I agree,

        My partner is a PL Quebecois who is not by any stretch bilingual and had no problem understanding their French. She even remarked that she liked the way Iggy slipped in a couple of good idioms. Then cringed when Iggy declared that Quebec has all it needs. She will be voting bloc. That gaff will not however cause any harm in the ROC probably the reverse if it gets picked-up on by the anglo media. Harper was so low key he almost self-marginalized. Being forced to speak in French undermined his steady Eddy routine. I do not think Harper did the cons any favour. Layton did what he needed to do and after the great exposure he got on tout le monde en parle I think the NDP will continue to get traction in Quebec. Finally this election is getting interseting

        • visionseeker says:

          I?m from a two solitudes household:

        • pomo says:

          Actually, I cringed when he said that too. And I am an anglo from the ROC. I cringe whenever I hear someone say something dismissive in response to a statement of need that has at least a modicum of legitimacy. Definitely a misstep. Overall, I still think he did very well.

  8. Namesake says:

    Chantal just made an interesting point (or half of it) on ‘At Issue’:

    the BQ is doing to democratic representation in QC what the CPC is doing to the ROC: translating just 40% of the votes into a dominating number of seats, leaving the others splitting the majority of remaining votes into an ineffectual number of seats, each.

    So my obvious solution for both problems: vote LPC both in QC and the ROC and get good representation and effective gov’t for everyone !!

    • The Doctor says:

      I’m absolutely shocked that that’s your solution.

    • MCBellecourt says:

      Makes sense with the outdated First Past The Post system we have. But there are other factors, too, and I’ve got a feeling this will be an election like no other. See the G&M story link I posted above.

  9. Cat says:

    I like Layton better with the deep Scottish accent. Wasn’t happy with any of them. Really surprised that Iggy got into the whole constitutional debate stuff. I’m not sure how that happened but it was between Duceppe and Ignatieff on the issue of Quebec’s role in Canada. The new debate format sucks.

  10. Michael Reintjes says:

    There was a French debate?

    • Loraine Lamontagne says:

      Yes, there are millions of people who speak French in this country. It’s incredible that in this day and age of information this has eluded you.

      • Dude Love says:

        Sorry, watch some awesome hockey last night.

        • Philip says:

          And yet you found the time to add your comment to the bottom of a thread about a debate you clearly didn’t watch. On a blog run by a supporter of a political party you don’t support. I’m still trying figure out what the possible deep emotional need this filled for you. Right now I’ve got nothing.

          • Dude Love says:

            I was supporting the Vancouver Canucks last night. Isn’t hockey the national past time and not political debates?

  11. Mulletaur says:

    I thought Ignatieff was even better tonight. Now that he’s had some practice, Iggy should put pressure on Harper to keep to his original challenge and debate him one-on-one. Harper threw it down and then ran away. Iggy is more than equal to the challenge.

    Also, I see that somebody in OLO finally seems to have listened to you for once :

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8MP4SBmrWk

  12. DJ says:

    I think the Libs, Dippers, and Bloc together are going to completely vandalize Harper’s chance of a majority. Harper may get a plurality of seats but after the election the other parties may not be able to stomach another minority Conservative government. We’ve had that for 5 years. The whole focus of the Harper government has been to get a majority–nothing else. They’ve done nothing except promote themselves. It’s time for a new government from the parties that represent the 60%+ of Canadians who don’t vote Conservative. I think this will happen regardless of pledges not to form a coalition. Canadians are not actually scared of a coalition anyways.

  13. Matt says:

    You know folks, Ignatieff offered something a litttle different from the same-old-same-old. Given the unprofessional and lack lustre Conservative campaign–we can only hope that Quebec sees through it all.

  14. TonyD says:

    LOL so i walk int oa bar tonight, hear the place going nuts , my buddy says “the canucks must be winnin'” and i says”nope , must be the french debate” ha HAAA!

  15. MJF says:

    Is what resumes who Stevie Boy is…:
    The Scorpion and the Frog

    A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the
    scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The
    frog asks, “How do I know you won’t sting me?” The scorpion
    says, “Because if I do, I will die too.”

    The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream,
    the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of
    paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown,
    but has just enough time to gasp “Why?”

    Replies the scorpion: “Its my nature…”

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