Western Standard - Cory talks about what he observed during the UCP frontrunners, leadership debate.

00:00:00.000 reviewing last night's UCP Frontrunners debate that was held at the rooftop YYC pub downtown

00:00:05.800 here in Calgary. I was given the task of sitting there with a timer and a sheet, so I wasn't

00:00:11.780 terribly much of a visible part of it, but I like to think it was Integro. So to start with,

00:00:18.680 the venue though was awesome. If you haven't been there, it's essentially a large rooftop

00:00:22.120 greenhouse in downtown Calgary. There are bars on each side of a big long space with a food

00:00:27.560 section in the back, and it makes it for efficient service despite the place being packed, and it was

00:00:32.040 with attendees. It's a unique spot, and I'd highly recommend it to folks if they're having a pint in

00:00:38.340 downtown Calgary. Check it out, it's a good place. The stage though was somewhat small, and it's part

00:00:43.280 of the reason that we limited the debate to three contenders. It's perfect for a band, but it would

00:00:47.960 never have accommodated seven people spread out in debate format. The only other downside was the

00:00:52.260 occasional ambulances passing by and interrupting the debate, with all of us being essentially

00:00:57.220 inside a giant tent. You do get a lot of peripheral noise from the outside. I mean, to pat our own

00:01:02.080 backs though, the debate went great. Aside from moderator Derek Fildebrand getting a little mixed

00:01:06.500 up in assigning the opening statements, he maintained flow and order during the affair

00:01:09.720 excellently, and it was very engaging. It was a good watch. There were no weird gimmicks, no sad

00:01:15.020 trombones, no intervention cards. Questions were presented, and occasional extra rebuttals were allowed

00:01:20.820 when a candidate one had singled out another. While there were some shots fired, I think things

00:01:26.180 remained relatively civil between the candidates, actually. I know it feels unfair to exclude

00:01:31.040 four out of seven candidates in an event like this, but there can be no doubt that having

00:01:34.680 only the presumptive top three in the stage made for a much better debate than the official party

00:01:40.540 won, including all seven candidates when they did that. It allowed for more questions and direct

00:01:45.100 discourse to be covered. Now, with independent polling, I'll just cover it one more time, Brian Jean,

00:01:49.780 Daniel Smith, and Travis Tays all are well beyond the remaining four candidates in support among the

00:01:55.840 members. Nothing's impossible, but it's very unlikely any of the remaining contenders are going to fill

00:02:00.120 that gap. Todd Owen was in attendance. He was there last night. I chatted with him, and he was

00:02:04.640 certainly well-received by everybody. And when the subject of his ejection from caucus came up in the

00:02:09.160 debate, all of the candidates on the stage made it clear he'd be welcome back, though they did make

00:02:12.780 it clear. They're also going to leave that to the caucus to decide. And Todd's a congenial smart man,

00:02:18.060 and if a fourth candidate would have been added to the mix, he would have fit in quite well.

00:02:23.120 All three candidates, they presented themselves well and solidly. I mean, I didn't really feel that

00:02:29.500 any single one stood out, not like that first debate anyways, and could be considered an outright

00:02:33.500 winner. In the room, it was clear, I mean, in reading the room, the supporters were dominated,

00:02:39.060 the room was dominated by Daniel Smith supporters. I mean, there were cheers and occasional boos,

00:02:43.600 and again, it was typically cheers for Smith and boos for anybody being contrary to her. But

00:02:48.500 Taves and Jean were both very well-represented with supporters in the room as well.

00:02:53.300 Now, in the official party debate in Medicine Hat, Smith was the clear target as she sustained attacks 0.99

00:02:59.060 from every candidate. And last night's debate, I thought it was more Travis Taves who was more

00:03:03.540 on the defensive. I mean, he's the clear establishment candidate, and he was facing off against basically

00:03:08.360 two party outsiders. It was a tough line to straddle. Taves asked to distance himself from the UCP

00:03:13.380 actions that led to the ousting of Kenny, while he'd also been a senior cabinet minister during

00:03:18.140 those years. Now, being a Western standard debate, Ottawa versus Alberta, the theme was,

00:03:23.600 of course, dominant. All candidates, of course, agreed that Alberta is getting a raw deal in 0.61

00:03:28.000 Confederation, and it needs to change. Smith stuck to and continued to defend her proposed 0.95

00:03:32.640 Sovereignty Act, calling for the province to refuse to cooperate with any federal actions or

00:03:36.440 policies that might be detrimental to Alberta. Brian Jean used the word autonomous, or autonomy

00:03:41.460 generously, and that's the main theme of his campaign. And he often expressed we need

00:03:45.840 constitutional reform in Canada, and felt it could be achieved through the courts. He often made

00:03:49.860 legal references and reminded the crowd a lot of his background in law. Taves took an approach

00:03:56.260 embracing more negotiation and compromise. Again, that middle of the road, more of the same old

00:04:00.960 as we've done, maybe strongly worded letters. He spoke on how things can be improved, though,

00:04:05.180 by working with other provinces to bring about more united front when it comes to battle with

00:04:09.360 Ottawa. Part of unity, that discussion got tough, and that's where Smith was taken to task by both

00:04:14.720 Jean and Taves for disastrous floor crossing in 2014 that arguably led to the four-year term of the

00:04:21.540 Rachel Notley government the following year. Jean and Taves didn't have the easiest job in

00:04:27.160 presenting themselves as unifiers either, though. Taves is the establishment candidate in a party

00:04:31.540 that just kicked out its own leader. And Jean took part in an extended campaign to encourage the 1.00

00:04:36.360 ejection of that leader. I mean, he fostered a lot of division. It's easier to tear a party apart than

00:04:40.580 to unify it. So whoever wins the race is going to have their work cut out for them. Now, firearms,

00:04:44.960 healthcare, self-defense, free press, and abortion, yeah, it was covered, were all debated as well.

00:04:49.700 I'm not going to break down into all of those or take up the whole show. What I will conclude is

00:04:54.120 stating it was a very good debate with a lot of ground covered. If a person's undecided in this

00:04:58.800 race, they can get a really clear picture in watching that debate of where the top three

00:05:02.640 contenders stand on the issues. So the debate isn't full. It's fully available on all of the

00:05:07.420 Western Standard social media channels, and I suggest taking the time to watch it when you can.

00:05:11.240 It's an enjoyable watch, and even as one cynical political watcher told me, she was surprised it was

00:05:16.580 a two-hour debate. The time actually flew by because it was engaging as opposed to being more droning

00:05:23.420 than a lot of other past debates could be. So check it out on the YouTube channel, the Facebook,

00:05:27.740 we have it on Rumble. We streamed it everywhere, guys, and it'll help you make up your mind,

00:05:32.560 at least among those three candidates, on who you may want to support.

Western Standard - August 10, 2022

Cory talks about what he observed during the UCP frontrunners, leadership debate.

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript