The Important
One day before Tom Mulcair, Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harper meet in Calgary for the second federal leaders’ debate—this one hosted in Calgary by the Globe and Mail—Conservative MP Jason Kenney made an appearance in Alberta to announce that the government will soon release details on its plans to speed up the process to accept 20,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees.
Kenney was also scheduled to talk about the economy and campaign spending, which some found perplexing given that he is minister of defence.
I’m confused as to why Kenney, defence minister, has been making these announcements, and not Oliver. pic.twitter.com/wqFGfO4MQV
— Emma Loop (@LoopEmma) September 15, 2015
Jason Kenney is apparently the minister of everything during #elxn42. Joe Oliver muzzled as if he was a govt scientist.
— Derrick O'Keefe (@derrickokeefe) September 16, 2015
The minister of finance, Joe Oliver, who has been noticeably missing for much of the campaign, turned up in Toronto on Wednesday to meet with constituents.
Had an engaging conversation with residents of 3600 Yonge St. Pleasure to meet and speak with constituents. #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/RJ1s3elSkz
— Joe Oliver (@MinJoeOliver) September 16, 2015
Trudeau started his day early in Calgary with a promise to improve flood infrastructure as well as $1.5 million to put towards the city’s public transit. Right after the announcement, he met mayor Naheed Nenshi for a brief chat.
Great discussion with @nenshi today about our plan to invest in #Calgary and communities across the country. pic.twitter.com/gpdplxSFxB
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) September 16, 2015
What Trudeau's deficits will buy: $50M promise for Calgary flood mitigation projects Nenshi wants.
— Jason Markusoff (@markusoff) September 16, 2015
Of course, Calgary’s mayor isn’t playing favourites. He met with Mulcair right after his sit-down with Trudeau.
My door's always open to all party leaders to come talk city issues. In fed elections, they rarely do. Looks like my luck changes tomorrow.
— Naheed Nenshi (@nenshi) September 16, 2015
The Interesting
Another day, another candidate dropped. On Wednesday, it was the Liberals’ turn to drop one of their hopefuls in the Alberta riding of Sturgeon River–Parkland. In the aftermath of the October shooting on Parliament Hill, Chris Austin wrote such comments on Facebook as: “Harper has turned our Nation’s Capital into a War Zone as his thirst for War,” and also linked to a news article about Communications Security Establishment Canada, writing, “The Gestapo Of Canada lol :)”
And there was more.
Ex-Lib candidate Chris Austin’s FB account has been restocked w/ lots of stuff about Muslims. https://t.co/JSg6ysdai8 pic.twitter.com/zbTg1wrmFq
— Jason Markusoff (@markusoff) September 16, 2015
If the daily news of a candidate being dropped isn’t enough to get the country talking about politics, maybe the extremely popular Quebec TV show Tout le monde en parle can get the world talking about the federal election. Next month, the show—often credited as the reason for Jack Layton’s surge in popularity within Quebec last election—will bring on Mulcair, Trudeau and Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe for a glass of wine and a chat. Harper, however, declined the invitation.
Mulcair, Duceppe and Trudeau to appear on Tout le monde en parle next month #TLMEP http://t.co/RC4FQXuIo6 pic.twitter.com/nLHOC9uJln
— Tracey Lindeman (@traceylindeman) September 16, 2015
The Fun
Politicians aren’t known for their wit on Twitter, but the Green Party surely got a few chuckles with their message about Elizabeth May live-tweeting her way into tomorrow’s debate.
Who is rocking Twitter for the #GlobeDebate? #ItsGonnaBeMay pic.twitter.com/YTBibKg2HU
— Green Party Canada (@CanadianGreens) September 16, 2015
@CanadianGreens #GlobeDebate #ItsGonnaBeMay Took me a second to get that one. Well played.
— Ryan Robinson (@Ryan_LR) September 16, 2015
Well played, Green Party. Well played. https://t.co/3BS94Xg3Xs
— William Wolfe-Wylie (@wolfewylie) September 16, 2015
A frontrunner for the "Best Tweet By A Political Party" award. #elxn42 https://t.co/ijktYYVgsH
— Paul Fairie (@paulisci) September 16, 2015
If you don’t get the pun, you may need to brush up on your boy bands.