Screenshot of the 2021 federal leaders' debate (Mel Rothenburger).

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Tennis, the need for more debates, and remembering 9/11

Sep 11, 2021 | 6:30 AM

THE FACT THAT so many Canadians spent Thursday night flipping channels between the leaders’ debate and the match featuring tennis phenom Leylah Annie Fernandez at the U.S. Open in New York says something about just how committed we are to this election.

We didn’t want it in the first place and we haven’t had the time nor the opportunity to get into the nuts and bolts of it. So, we gave the debate only passing attention, which is just as well. Organized by the Leaders Debates Commission, it was the first and last English-language debate of the campaign, and it was terrible — too many questioners mucking things up.

The format provided no time for the leaders to go into the issues in any depth, nor to properly rebut the often-questionable accusations and assertions of their opponents. (If I hear “there was no knock-out punch” one more time I’m going to scream.)

It wasn’t even a complete roster — People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier was excluded.

If anyone was hoping to hear — between switching to TSN to watch Fernandez and her incredible trip to the finals — something that would help them decide who to vote for, the debate was of no help.

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However, more debates would have been a good thing. It’s outrageous that there’s only one English-language debate. At least a couple of more would have allowed the deficiencies of the first one to be worked out and to provide voters with useful information about the leaders. And maybe get everyone, you know, interested.

It’s clear, though, that Justin Trudeau and his Liberals are in danger as the campaign enters the home stretch.

The polls, which showed Trudeau with a comfortable — though not overwhelming — lead when he called the election gradually showed him losing ground to Erin O’Toole and the Conservatives in the popular vote. Those same polls, however, say he could still eke out the most seats due to his strength in the heavily populated east.

The result, most likely, will be another minority government of some sort instead of the Liberal majority Trudeau so badly wanted. Which makes one wonder what it was all for.

The Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding may be status quo along with the rest. According to projections up to Thursday (the day of the federal debate and the day before advance voting opened) from 338canada.com, which aggregates polls, the riding was leaning toward Conservative candidate Frank Caputo over his Liberal and NDP opponents by about the same margin as when Cathy McLeod trounced Terry Lake in 2019.

Riding by riding projections are always a little suspect when they’re broken out from national polls because of low sample numbers, so 338canada uses a complicated weighting system that includes such things as demographics and star candidates to draw its conclusions.

If Leylah Fernandez had entered the race, she probably could have been elected prime minister.

…. TODAY MARKS AN UNHAPPY 20^th anniversary — who doesn’t remember what they were doing on Sept. 11, 2001?

Like the day Elvis died, or the first moon landing, or the assassination of JFK, or when Princess Di was killed in a car crash, 9/11 is an indelible marker on our personal journeys through life.

Twenty years ago today, I was getting ready to go to work at my job as mayor of the city, and turned on the TV news as I usually did, when images of the burning north tower of the World Trade Centre came on the screen.

It was shocking, but it got even worse when the south tower collapsed, then the north as so many of us watched in horror in real time. The phone rang and, when I picked it up, newsman Bob Price from CHNL was on the other end, seeking reaction.

I said something about how awful it was but, of course, I had no information to provide. I certainly remember the sense of doom that day as we all tried to comprehend what had happened.

Twenty-four Canadians, including four from B.C., were among the thousands killed. In the following days, I felt the City needed to pay its respects, so we arranged a ceremony outside City Hall.

Fire trucks and police cars were parked on Seymour Street and First Avenue, we sang O Canada and the Star-Spangled Banner, Coun. Peter Sharp played a mournful Amazing Grace on his bagpipes, and there were speeches by local politicians including me, and it was one of the saddest ceremonies I’ve ever been part of.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.