Erection 2006: The Okay Debate,Last Night In Thornhill, AndPaul-luting The Campaign

So many things to say - so little time.

So let's get started with Monday's English-language debate between the 4 contenders. In a nutshell...

• Paulyanna lost his cool when confronted with allegations that he registered his Canada Steamship fleet with other nations so he could pay less taxes and insurance, thus making him look less patriotic than what he claimed to be in campaign ads;


• Jack-O Layton appeared pretty calm at the start, occasionally pointing out defects in his opponents' arguments without resorting to crypto-Marxist blathering. But towards the end, he started to conclude his answers by begging the audience to elect his party. A good performance spoiled by excessive begging;


• Gigli the Separatiste tried to put on the face of a federal candidate to virtually no avail, therefore looking a little lost in the scuffle. He did, however, score some hits on Paulyanna by attacking the definition of a "nation". Everything else sounded like a carbon-copy of the NDP platform. Useless in a Federal debate


• Steve-O was cool. Maybe just too cool. Even when his patriotism was questioned by Paulyanna, he remain calm. When he was accused of trying to kill all the social programs, bankrupt the country with useless promises and promote felixophagy amongst preschoolers (I made that one up - that's the eating of cats), the man did not snap, not even once. Methinks that the enemy would have to sink a bit low to defeat him, but that's another story, eh?

On Wednesday, I went to an all-candidates meeting at the Thornhill Community Centre Library to see representatives from 5 political parties in the federal riding (electoral district) of Thornhill explain their presences and parrot whatever their masters have cooked-up. It was a meet-and-greet affair punctuated by a spirited Q & A session. Most of the pointed questions seemed to be tossed in the general direction of the local challenger, former Town of Vaughan councillor and Conservative Party candidate Anthony Reale, especially those regarding women's and reproductive rights. Liberal Party incumbent Susan Kadis was not immune to barbs tossed her way with regards to her boss's scandals and ineptitude. The most articulate of the bunch was the NDP's contender, Simon Strelchik, whose soul-patch would make a great complement to Jack-O's 'stache if he gets elected, which would be almost never since the riding usually swung between Grit and Tory. Standout of the evening: Green Party's Lloyd Helferty's fashion sense in wearing a green sportscoat - very representative.

Anyways, after all the fuss, the Fiberals came out fighting with their own, catty attack ads against Steve-O, accusing him of being a right-wing demagogue and a warmonger willing to impose martial law on his own Fellow Canadians (even though their ideological guiding spirit, Pierre Elliot Trudeau pulled that very stunt during the October Crisis of 1970). No debate about issues, but a lot more accusations of felixophagy got tossed around. Compare the whining and caterwauling with the ads that the Tories made about poor little Paulyanna. Expect worse things to come from the 2 real contenders as the campaign reaches the proverbial home-strech.