The House of Tough Debate

House of Commons in 3-D

The House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa is the main arena for political debate in Canada. The people who stand up and debate here have to be prepared for aggressive counter-arguments to be made. Not showing up because your audience might disagree with you is not an option here.

I mention this because I attended the first of three candidates' debates in Guelph this evening. It was sponsored by Guelph's Coalition for Social Justice and all the candidates were there... except Marty Burke, the Conservative. Perhaps he decided that this audience would be hostile to his opinions, which I've heard are hard-right, and took a pass. The Liberal candidate, Frank Valeriote, was the one debater who was passionate about social justice issues and had a good grasp of the facts. He has my support.