TV Leaders' Debate

[The Green Barbarian]

If you think a smile and no brain is what it takes to be Premier of BC, you might be a Liberal..

If you think that you can become premier of BC by screaming and yelling like a lunatic at debates, or telling people mid-way through a campaign that you want to kill thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment, you might be an NDP...

[krocky]

I know you say that you are a Conservative. No true conservative would ever go to their grave, knowing that they had voted for the pure evil that is the NDP. No one.

Hmmm, I'll let most of the population of Alberta know.. Wonder how the NDP got elected there, Putin perhaps..!!

[krocky]

If you think that you can become premier of BC by screaming and yelling like a lunatic at debates

OH, you mean like TRUMP did and didn't become president.. Funny, I though he won..

If you thought Horgan was actually "screaming" and "yelling" in the debate last night, you might be a Liberal...

................OR you didn't even watch it and are getting your information from this forum..!!!!

[The Green Barbarian]

Wonder how the NDP got elected there

Vote split on the right. Here in BC the vote is split on the left.

[Rwede]

If anyone thinks that Trump-like politics will work on the left coast of Canada, they're delusional.

Trump's showing in California would be akin to a Trump-like Horgan's showing in BC.

Horgan's really being exposed here. Even his own die-hard supporters are saying he's a sexist, rude jackass, and they think that'll win. I think they're in for a rude awakening on May 9th.

[Jflem1983]

I know you say that you are a Conservative. No true conservative would ever go to their grave, knowing that they had voted for the pure evil that is the NDP. No one.

Hmmm, I'll let most of the population of Alberta know.. Wonder how the NDP got elected there, Putin perhaps..!!

Preston manning gave alberta to the orange robbers

[Urbane]

As I was watching the debate last night I concluded that John Horgan doesn't wear well. I've said a couple of times on here that he seems like a nice enough fellow but lately I've had to change my mind. He clearly has a temper and he's easily flustered. And he definitely hasn't seemed all that civil. Andrew Weaver, in particular, threw him off his game last night . . . "c'mon man" . . . I had been thinking lately that the NDP might just scratch out a victory this time due to the sheer length of time that the Liberals have been in office. After last night I'm not so sure. That 20-25% "undecided" could not have been very impressed with John Horgan last night.

[Leifer]

If nothing else....it will be an entertaining photo finish on May 9th.

I am sure people will be snapping at each other vigorously for the next couple of weeks.
Whatever your political leanings....I would much rather see people engaged and arguing over who deserves to run our amazing province.

When the dust settles....I will be sure to congratulate whichever party wins (even if it is NDP) for a race well run.

The only thing that really makes my blood boil is apathy within the voting public. Having the displeasure of being in failed states or where people could not vote freely without fear....we really do take our system for granted.

[BeingHuman]

I watched the debate as well, and concluded that Christy Clark was not even in a debate, she ignored most all of the questions to deliver her set memorized commercial messages to the camera. It made the debate somewhat of a joke! John Horgan was right about her NOT being able to apologize to the children and families that were cheated out of 14 years of quality public education. Christy Clark couldn't apologize because it was not in her memorized script!

[whatwhat]

My boyfriend and I have been on the fence on who we are going to vote for. We were debating the NDP, but some of their policies we just couldn't get behind (such as the $400 renters rebate). We were leaning towards the Liberals, until the debate.

Weaver really won us over. We agreed with a lot of what he said, and he actually answers questions unlike Clark. Like Krocky mentioned, Clark just seemed to be going back to jobs as a reasoning which left us really hanging on issues that are important to us. A good example was the housing issue. She just kept going back to the fact she will keep creating jobs. Which is fine and dandy, but we already have good jobs but that still doesn't solve the issue that we will have extreme difficulty affording home.

[The Green Barbarian]

I watched the debate as well, and concluded that Christy Clark was not even in a debate,

Color me shocked.

[flamingfingers]

Weaver supports the money-sucking IPPs! He also intends to tax your primary residence when/if you sell it. He has supported virtually all of the ChristyLiberal bills brought forth. Think carefully!!

[mr.bandaid]

My boyfriend and I have been on the fence on who we are going to vote for. We were debating the NDP, but some of their policies we just couldn't get behind (such as the $400 renters rebate). We were leaning towards the Liberals, until the debate.

Weaver really won us over. We agreed with a lot of what he said, and he actually answers questions unlike Clark. Like Krocky mentioned, Clark just seemed to be going back to jobs as a reasoning which left us really hanging on issues that are important to us. A good example was the housing issue. She just kept going back to the fact she will keep creating jobs. Which is fine and dandy, but we already have good jobs but that still doesn't solve the issue that we will have extreme difficulty affording home.

May as well vote liberal than.

[whatwhat]

My boyfriend and I have been on the fence on who we are going to vote for. We were debating the NDP, but some of their policies we just couldn't get behind (such as the $400 renters rebate). We were leaning towards the Liberals, until the debate.

Weaver really won us over. We agreed with a lot of what he said, and he actually answers questions unlike Clark. Like Krocky mentioned, Clark just seemed to be going back to jobs as a reasoning which left us really hanging on issues that are important to us. A good example was the housing issue. She just kept going back to the fact she will keep creating jobs. Which is fine and dandy, but we already have good jobs but that still doesn't solve the issue that we will have extreme difficulty affording home.

May as well vote liberal than.

Then so be it? I don't really feel like strategically voting.

[Merry]

I watched the entire debate (apart from the odd exit to refill my glass. LOL) and frankly I don't think ANYONE won.

My feeling is that, for the most part, whichever Party you supported going into the debate, you probably still supported when the debate was finished.

The only people who might have been influenced were the undecided, and even for them the debate wasn't all that helpful.

For starters, all three candidates tended to "bob and weave" when asked direct questions - even Weaver (which surprised me the most). I think they were all so busy trying not to upset any potential existing voters, that they forgot they were supposed to be recruiting new voters.

Christy did have a very false smile plastered on her face for most of the debate, and it was true that she usually responded with "soundbites" and "talking points" more than provide actual answers. I didn't learn a single thing from any of her answers that I didn't already know.

Weaver seemed to get flustered at points, and almost lose his thread. And he definitely went after Horgan more than Christy. I suspect he figures he has a better chance of stealing NDP votes than Liberal ones so, for him, that was probably the best strategy. But it tended to give Christy a bit of a "free ride" at times. Prior to the debate I had a higher opinion of Weaver and the Greens than I did after; I don't think he conducted himself as well as some on these forums are giving him credit for. He did not come across as a good public speaker, and I didn't like all the extra taxes he wants to dump on home buyers. I didn't understand why he figured doing that would help with housing affordability, because it seems like the opposite to me.

Horgan didn't come across all that well either, although when he smiled it did seem to be a lot more genuine than Christy's. But he got flustered sometimes and had a hard time getting his point across. However I didn't see the anger that some posters claim he exhibited. For the most part I thought he came across as genuine, and earnest. I think he truly believes in his cause, and wants to do the right thing for BC. So if I were going to say anyone won last night I'd have to say it was him, but only barely. Because none of them came across all that well.

By the way, saying that Horgan did the best (but only slightly) does not mean I endorse all of his policies. I'm still in favour of Site C and the Kinder Morgan pipeline, and I think the renters credit is a total waste of money which (as the other two pointed out) won't provide much relief to renters anyway. But, as I really am sick and tired of the Liberals sleazy ways, and don't like what the Greens have to offer, I'm still very much in the undecided camp. And that debate didn't help me at all.