The Official Debates for the 2019 Federal Election

So it was revealed today that the independant commission that was set up to organize the official leaders debates for the 2019 Federal Election is going to let Maxime Bernier participate.

I have to admit I am torn by this decision.  On the one hand giving this man a national stage to spew his hate and bigotry troubles me but on the other hand it could show Canadians just what kind of man he is and what kind of party he is leading.

When I first heard this news I imagined that Mr. Scheer and the Conservative Party would not be pleased.  If they have any chance of winning they have to keep their base united and Mr. Bernier is a direct threat to that goal.  Having him in the debates makes achieving that objective that much harder as it gives Mr. Bernier a chance to appeal directly to that part of the Conservative base where his message would resonate.  As well, now that Mr. Bernier is included in the debates the national media could begin to pay a little more attention to them.  If any as much attention as they give the Greens but any publicity that Mr. Bernier receives is probably not good news for the Conservatives.

It turns out I was correct because the Conservative Party came out with a statement of displeasure that was completely overboard in the amount of vitriol directed at the commission and it went so far as to question its integrity.

I looked up the members of the commision to see if their argument had any merit.  I believed before I checked that it would not but I wanted to be certain and when I checked I was correct.  The commissioner is our former Governor General, a Harper appointee, and one person in the country whose honour and integrity is above reproach.  In addition one of the members of the Advisory Committee is Deborah Grey.  When I read that name it sounded familier and it took me awhile to place it.  I finally did.  She was the first Reform Party MP that came to Ottawa in the 1989, preceding their big influx of MPs in 1993.  She was roasting Mr.Chretien and his government when Mr. Scheer was still in highschool.  To imply she is a Liberal stooge is way off base.  Make no mistake I have little respect for Ms. Grey.  Her and her Reform colleagues were some of the most classless people ever to wonder the halls of Parliament Hill.  Indeed, the extreme partisanship, vitriol and total lack of class of the current group of Conservative MPs and candidates is a direct result of how the Reform Party members conducted themselves in the 1990s.  However, give the lady her due.  No one can legitimately imply she is somehow working for the Liberals like the Conservatives did today.

There is some speculation as to why the Conservatives reacted the way they did.  The most plausible explanation is so far the Conservatives are losing the election.  Looking past today to the last few weeks the Conservatives are not running a campaign one would expect from a front runner.  This is odd because for the past few months the media has been telling us that they were the front runner.  The media has begun to change its tune somewhat in the last week or so but as late as the last week of August I was reading media commentators indicating that the Conservatives were in the driver's seat.

If the Conservatives are losing I can assure you that they know it.  The big three political parties have polling and data analysis experts on retainer for the election and they will provide each leader with daily briefings of what Canadians care about and how their campaigns are progressing.  Judging by how the Conservatives have conducted the first few days of the election, including their statements on the decision to allow Mr. Bernier to partipate in the debates, I would speculate that the Conservatives are not liking what their data analysis experts are telling them.  

Watching the Conservatives it is quite a contrast to the Liberal campaign which looks very much like a frontrunner campaign.

There is still alot of time before the election and alot of politics will happen during that time so things could change.  I do not believe they will but there is always a chance they could.  However, as of now I believe the Conservatives are in tough and the added credibility given to Mr. Bernier that comes along with his inclusion in the debates will only make their campaign tougher.