Barrhead and District Chamber of Commerce president and all-candidates forum moderator of last week’s all-candidate forum Megan Perry said the only winner of the event would be democracy.
Really in the history of political debates, there are very few where you can say one candidate scored a “knock-out” punch turning the tide of an election. And even when there was a defining moment, even then a decisive win is rarely if ever is a significant factor in winning or losing an election.
One of the most memorable “knock-out” moments was in 1984 when then Progressive Conservative leader Brian Mulroney, in a pre-orchestrated attack on Liberal Prime Minister John Turner, telling him he owed Canadians an apology for a series of patronage appointments requested by former PM Pierre Trudeau.
Turner said he didn’t have a choice, in which Mulroney said. “You had an option, sir. You could have said: ‘I am not going to do it. This is wrong for Canada, and I am not going to ask Canadians to pay the price.’ You had an option, sir, to say no, and you chose to say yes to the old attitudes and the old stories of the Liberal Party.”
Turner stuck with his meagre defence, shrugging and saying “I had no option.”
Many point to it saying this was the turning point in an election that saw the Liberals go from having a majority to just 40 seats.
Although it was a memorable moment did it really have a significant impact? Probably not. Yes the Liberals were leading in the polls, but they were losing momentum well before the debate. The same can be said about the 2015 provincial debate where PC Premier Jim Prentice apparently handed the keys to the province over to Notley. Then like in 1984, the writing was already on the wall. People had already made their decision on who they would support.
I believe this to be the case at our local forum. People, by and large, had already made up their mind who they were going to support. And that’s understandable.
The decision of who you are going to throw your support behind to help guide the Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock constituency and the province shouldn’t be taken lightly and shouldn’t be made on the basis of one forum or election campaign.
That being said, no decision should ever be written in stone. Use this time wisely, challenge the candidates, your own conceived opinions, and then decide where you are going to put your X.
