Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: TRUDEAU: JOHN MCCALLUM ON FLICKR (CC BY-ND 2.0), MUCLAIR: UNITED STEELWORKERS ON FLICKER (CC BY-SA 2.0), HARPER: PETER MACDIARMID / GETTY IMAGE NEWS / THINKSTOCK,
Have any of the big three have convinced Canadians that their party is capable of leading the country?

For Canadians who tuned into the foreign affairs debate last week, it probably felt a lot like watching a cricket match. There was a lot of excitement, people were yelling, but it was really hard to tell who won. In an epic showdown between the guy with great hair, the guy with scary hair and the other guy who seems to reinvent himself for every debate, there was a lot of food for thought for voters.

The Prime Minister successfully managed to remain somewhat above the squabbling between Liberal candidate Justin Trudeau and New Democratic Party (NDP) Leader Tom Mulcair. Trudeau had one of his strongest showings to date, with hard-hitting criticisms of both the NDP’s approach to separatism and the Conservative Party’s Bill C-51. Despite being in attendance, Mulcair failed to show up in a lot of ways. His attacks were more personal than policy based and he failed to match Trudeau’s passion or the Prime Minister’s collected attitude.

A key issue addressed at the debate was the refugee crisis in Syria. Trudeau suggested more needs to be done to address the crisis, beginning with accepting more refugees.

Harper replied that his decision to accept 10,000 more refugees was extremely generous and that his government is not “chasing headlines”. Trudeau accused the Prime Minister of doing the bare minimum, which Harper flatly denied.

Mulcair landed a few heavy blows as he recalled refugees being denied entrance to British Columbia, costing the lives of many of those who attempted to gain access to Canada. Harper again emphasized the need for caution, citing European countries that hastily backtracked from their open door policy.

The Prime Minister has a well-documented history of removing environmental sanctions in order to support industry, so it was no surprise when both Trudeau and Mulcair jumped on the issue.

Trudeau stressed that the environment and the economy must go hand-in-hand and that the federal government’s inactivity has resulted in the provinces taking individual action to address carbon emissions.

Harper cited the widespread closure of coal fired power plants as evidence that his government is taking action, but his opponents were quick to point out that those closures came from the provincial level in spite of federal attempts to delay or prevent the closures altogether.

In response to a question from the moderator regarding the Keystone XL pipeline that has failed to move forward, Harper stated that his administration has had to negotiate with two radically different governments on the issue.

Mulcair, who is opposed to the pipeline, hit hard in a one-on-one debate with the Prime Minister, claiming that Harper doesn’t have the ability to influence the debate in the United States. At one point the live audience actually broke into laughter when the Prime Minister stated that he maintains a positive relationship with our neighbours south of the border.

The election race is coming down to the wire. After fumbling out of the gate, Trudeau has taken great strides towards establishing himself as the real alternative to the Conservative Party. In addition to enabling phenomenal analogies equating politics to athletics, the respective campaigns have succeeded in maintaining a relatively high level of discourse.

Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.