The great (?) debaters

Photo by abdallahh via Flickr

The Quebec election is kind of like an NHL playoff series, minus the excitement and rioting. Oh, and the athleticism, too. But there’s no shortage of drama.

Last night, Pauline Marois and Jean Charest faced off in the second of four debates to be televised this week on Radio-Canada, during which lots of talking over one another and looking pretty damn angry occurred. Just like a family dinner!

The Globe and Mail — which called Marois “ascendant” — noted that, throughout the hour, Charest frequently found himself on the defensive on any number of issues, corruption among them. When Marois brought up the ol’ influence peddling scandal, during which Tony Tomassi and David Whissell resigned, Charest countered that her “mudslinging has harmed the entire political class.” Because, you know, before these allegations came out, Quebecers thought their political leaders were beyond reproach.

The student strike was front and centre, with Marois accusing Charest of fighting the province’s young’uns, and Charest countering that the red-square-rocking Marois shunned her responsibilities as a party leader.

Of course, there was talk of identity, too, and Marois even accused Charest of bowing to his knees before the prime minister. And yeah, there’s another debate tonight, this one between Charest and CAQ “wildcard” François Legault. Can his party overtake Marois and the PQ, the Post asks? It already has in possibly the only place that matters: Twitter. ■