Winnipeg Mayoral Debate: Is Anybody Listening?

So after witnessing the mayoral debate at the RRC Princess street campus on Wednesday, I have drawn a couple of conclusions:  

First, Judy doesn’t seem to have a plan for the city outside of establishing community centers and  hiring  ex-gang members to discourage vulnerable youth from following the long hard road of gang life. She has definitely spent the majority of her political career as hippy, sorry NDP, opposition member. Her campaign seems to be based on her NOT being Sam Katz rather than what she can do for this city. An interesting strategy no doubt, considering she is Katz’s  Mom. 

Samy boy, clearly was the man to beat. Judy gave him that. It had nothing to do with him being the incumbent, or his platform, or the audience being more receptive to him.  She, for whatever reason, deferred her position as the “obvious choice” and rather took  it upon herself to play the role as underdog.

Some people said Katz was more sharp. Some people said that he cut Judy off, or got in the last sound bite before Richard get-out-of-the-god-damn-curtains- Cloutier cut to commercial. I call it kicking ass.  I’m not saying I would necessarily vote for the man, be he was much better at using his tone and projecting confidence. He came across as a man in charge, and knew when to attack, when to defend and when to stand out.

Aside from crime, a good chunk of the debate was about the Veolia contract. Which still seems like a dark mystery to me. Sam said nothing, Judy said nothing. They were talking but nothing was said. 

Transit was the other issue, and again, more talk. Sam in favour of LRT, Judy in favour of Bus Lanes. At least the both recognized (sort of) the need for a REAL transit system in this minor-league city. 

Politics is exciting and it’s dirty. I very much enjoyed being an observer and I feel sorry for both candidates. Neither really came across as being particularly bright. I understand they are playing for a larger radio audience who might only listen for a few minutes here and there, which is probably why both candidates kept on repeating themselves, trying to get their catch phrases in. But really? We’re at a college. Show some respect to the audience who actually showed up and sat through the whole thing. We actually care. We pay attention. 90% of us will actually vote compared to the less than %40 of the eligible public. 

In conclusion: I’m glad I can’t vote. Vote for Captan Sparkles.