After every debate, there’s always talk of who won, and Monday night’s federal leaders’ debate was no exception.
After Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet and People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier sparred, everyone and their dog had an opinion on who the ultimate victor was.
Ask the Conservatives, and you’ll hear that Scheer won. Ask the Liberals, and they’ll tell you Trudeau gave the rest of the field a smackdown. Ask me, and I’ll tell you I’m very tired.
You’ll hear that somehow Trudeau, Scheer, Singh, May, Blanchet and Bernier all won and also lost. You’ll hear there are two winners. You’ll hear there’s no winner.
In a bizarre twist, if you ask former NDP leader Thomas Mulcair, he’ll say that two leaders from different parties than his own took the cake.
But debates are not like hockey games. There rarely is a clear winner, but people of various positions and sides will always jockey to claim victory. Debaters don’t win traditional points or score goals. There are zingers, yes. There are flubs. But there’s no tally and trophy at the end. Monday’s debate didn’t end with one leader standing under a confetti cannon kissing a trophy saying they’re “going to Disneyland.”
When it comes to the winner, it depends on who you ask, but there were some creative opinions on who really won the debate we can all get behind. Some jokingly argued that the true victor on a night where many debate spectators wanted to drown their sorrows, was booze.
And there were also many shout-outs to the moderators, particularly final moderator Rosie Barton, for managing to wrangle the six leaders, which was no small task.
If you ask me, the true winner of the debate was whoever had to mix sound and balance the microphones of six people talking over each other.
But if you want to make your own decision on who won, check out our coverage. At the end of the day, much like your vote, it’s ultimately up to you to decide.