Kevin Lynch and Paul Deegan

August 23, 2021

While former Prime Minister Kim Campbell was fatefully misquoted in the 1993 election campaign as having said, “An election is no time to discuss serious issues,” the sentiment she expressed in her verbatim answer to a reporter’s question about social programs — “This is not the time, I don’t think, to get involved in a debate on very, very serious issues,” is one with which we heartily disagree.

Election campaigns are a time to focus on both style and substance. And leaders’ debates can be an unfiltered forum for Canadians to examine the candidates under pressure and see if they have the leadership and policy chops. Think of the Mulroney-Turner-Broadbent debates of the 1980s, in which political gladiators slugged it out and debated big, heady issues about the future of the country, including free trade.

The 1980s were a period of economic and geopolitical uncertainty. The Cold War was still raging. The second energy crisis drove up oil prices, set off an inflationary spiral and triggered global energy security worries. US Fed chair Paul Volcker was sending interest rates to unheard-of levels to tame inflation and the Bank of Canada was following suit. Deng Xiaoping was busy setting China on a new, post-Mao course. Apartheid still ravaged South Africa. Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were rethinking the role of government, forcing debates everywhere about a fundamental pivot for business, government, and the economy.

Challenging days indeed, and when one compares the 1980s to today — as New York Yankees great Yogi Berra once said — “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” Once again, we are living in deeply uncertain and volatile times.

So far, in the 2020s, the global pandemic has stressed our economy, cost countless jobs in the service sector, and tested our health care system in ways that will be with us for years if not decades. Afghanistan is back on the front pages, Russia is threatening once again, and we are talking about a U.S.-China cold war. China, not Iran, is holding hostages, and they are Canadian. The government is everywhere in the economy in response to the pandemic, but there is no clarity about an exit plan. Debt is at historic levels and inflation is again a factor. Globalization is in retreat, and we are a trading nation. And the digital revolution is reshaping how we communicate, work, play and do politics, and not always in ways we like.

The current Canadian election campaign heading toward a September 20^th vote has already been tagged by some with a cultural reference so widely recognized as a signifier of something that’s about nothing that it worked its way into the political vernacular years ago. But let’s not have a Seinfeld election; the stakes are too high; the policy issues too consequential.

Let’s have an election about something, debating the pivotal issues that will shape the decade. Party platforms are a place to advance policy positions. So, too, are the leaders’ debates. The Leaders’ Debates Commissioner has invited five party leaders to participate in two official debates. The French debate is scheduled for September 8^th, with the English debate to be held the following day. Let’s make the two debates — and the independent TVA debate on September 2^nd — matter.

The next steps in responding to the pandemic, the climate crisis, the devastating revelations about residential schools, and the strategy for child care should all be front and centre during the debates. But there are other pressing and pivotal issues that we hope the party leaders will be questioned on. Here are ten:

First: We are seeing signs of higher inflation, and ultra-low interest rates will not last forever. At some point, the Bank of Canada will step in. What is your strategy to establish a fiscal anchor and to rebuild our resiliency to handle inevitable future shocks? What would be your deficit target for 2025 when Canadians next go to the polls?

Second: As the pandemic wanes and we pivot away from short-term stimulus, what investments would you make to enhance competitiveness, improve productivity, and enhance our long-term growth trajectory.

Third: Under the Biden administration, the United States remains on its Trump-era ‘Buy American’ strategy and continues challenges to cross-border free trade. What is your strategy to deal with that and what changes would you make to federal government procurement policies?

Fourth: The Biden administration is stacked with trustbusters keen to take on Big Tech, Google and Facebook are in the crosshairs of members of Congress, and the E.U. and Australia are already taking action. Does our Competition Bureau have the policy tools for an intangibles-driven economy, the enforcement teeth, and the technical talent to ensure a level playing field between global ‘Big Tech’ and our domestic firms?

Fifth: Smart regulation can be a “frugal stimulus” for unleashing private-sector investment without jeopardizing standards. What are your plans to make regulation more transparent, predictable, and balanced, and how can you speed up decision-making and eliminate endless layers of review?

Sixth: What is your plan to encourage strong, efficient, Canadian-headquartered global companies in a consolidating world?

Seventh: Climate change is a clear threat to planet, yet energy is our biggest export earner, and fossil fuels are going to be needed for some time to come. What is your plan to grow Canada’s clean energy sector, and how will you help our fossil fuel industry transition to a low-carbon future?

Eighth: China, under President Xi, is behaving badly. How are we going to plot a strategic course that balances our national interests, values, sovereignty, and participation in a global economy in which China is challenging the United States for superpower status?

Ninth: Canada is an Arctic nation. Do we have the military capacity to express our sovereignty in the Arctic, the scientific capacity to understand and respond to the impacts of climate change on the Arctic, and the policy capacity to sustainably develop the Arctic for the benefit of all?

Tenth: Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and now Afghanistan all pose risks to global security. Where do you stand when it comes to Canada’s NATO commitments, our military capacity, the revitalization of NORAD, UN peacekeeping, and Canada’s place in the world?

There are decades when almost nothing changes and there are decades where almost everything changes. Like the 1980s, this is one of those times. This election, let’s have a really robust, respectful and grown-up debate about policy — just like Mulroney, Turner and Broadbent. Canadians are owed a substantive debate given the times, and we are looking to the moderators and the candidates to deliver a debate about where we want to be in 2030, and what it will take to get us there.

Policy Contributor Kevin Lynch, a former Clerk of the Privy Council, was vice chair of BMO Financial Group.

Policy Contributor Paul Deegan, a former BMO and CN executive, was Deputy Executive Director of the White House’s National Economic Council.