Caught the last half hour of the leaders debate en francais...since my french comprehension isn't good enough for me to talk about what the party leaders said, I'll instead focus on what I noticed...

* in terms of their ability to speak french, obviously Dion and Duceppe (being Quebecois) were most comfortable. I was surprised with Harper's ability - although he spoke slowly and deliberately, he didn't seem to feel too out of his element. Layton probably needs to get rid of his anglo-accent - but his delivery was decent. May definitely needs more work, but it was good to hear all of the candidates speaking somewhat fluently. I think one of the leaders slipped into some English, and was quickly reprimanded by the moderator!

* maybe because the setting was in a studio, around a table, with darker tones on the walls and carpet, but this debate felt very much like a conversation - a civil and "polite" discussion between 5 adults on the issues that matter to canadians. much unlike the last election debate, where standing at the podium, you would often hear shouting, posturing and accusations flung across the stage. Most of all I was impressed by Harper (again another surprise for me!) - he almost spoke sotto voce - with a hushed voice. Maybe he intentionally did that to soften his image, to make it seem like he was never on the defensive, that he was firm in his decisions and leadership. Or maybe he just is a soft speaker?

overall, without knowing the actual content of the discussions (i know that they talked about the budget cuts for the arts and canada's role in afghanistan), I can't really assess how well the leaders did on the issues. but I read an interesting article about how debates merely reinforce pre-existing ideas and notions voters have about a particular candidate.

how will tomorrow's english debates fare?