[part of me wants to show off and write this whole thing in French, the other part actually wants people to be able to read it and is afraid of embarassing myself with glaring errors in French…]

It is the French-language Leaders Debate tonight on Radio-Canada, and I feel like watching it to see if they actually say anything different than they did last night in English…

Les observations pour le debat des chefs ce soir au Radio-Canada/Observations from tonight’s Leader’s Debate on Radio-Canada:

1. Woohoo, je comprend le debat en francais!/Woohoo, I can understand the debate even though it is in French!

2. Jack Layton is just as annoying in French as in English.

3. Stephen Harper and Gilles Duceppe have again worn the same tie (Is Paul Martin the only one who will not wear stripes?).

4. Either my French fails me (just like the satelite signal seems to be doing off and on) or Jack Layton just stood up for Stephen Harper to Paul Martin. What the…?!? Maybe he felt sorry for him because his French sucks.

5. And now we are worried about minivans… good thing they just recently got the vote here in Canada.

6. Or was that a comparison of the imigrant head tax and minivans? So hard to tell in French…

7. M. Harper: “Vous ne gagnez pas rien avec M. Martin.” Well said, well said.

8. Paul Martin is much more composed tonight than he was last night… oh, but we are just beginning the National Unity section, this is where he loses it every time.

9. Stephen Harper’s ability to memorize in French and in English is just freaky.

10. Disregard previous Paul Martin comment… he is waving and gesturing like he is in prime form now.

11. Favourite words of Jack Layton tonight: “grande, grande probleme.” To you I say, “I know, you are.”

12. Upon finishing yet another long speech in French that actually made sense, Stephen Harper allows himself a smug smile. Or was that a normal smile. So hard to tell.

13. I know it is a complex subject, but I didn’t think that same-sex marriage really fit under “National Unity” Unless of course there is something I don’t know about relationships between the provinces.

14. Paul Martin attacked by Stephen Harper (“I’ve said the same thing in English and in French… why won’t you answer us?”) and then Gilles Duceppe agrees. Paul Martin hides his head in his hands in the background. Only 15 minutes to go Paul, and then you can go bury your head in the sand instead.

15. I guess it is inevitable, but Gilles Duceppe is pretty much in his element tonight.

16. Why do they keep talking about Rene Levesque? I must have missed something. Isn’t he dead?

17. Call me stupid, but I think there are probably more people watching the debate tonight than just Quebecers… so Paul, maybe thank them for voting for you as well instead of closing with “A strong Quebec is a strong Canada”)

18. What a sweet closing for Stephen Harper – “You can tell that French is not my first language, but my politics are still clear…” *sniff* Hold that thought while I reach for a kleenex.

19. And just in case we weren’t sure, Gilles Duceppe informs us that he will, in fact, be voting for the Bloc Quebecois.

By the way, if you want to read a funny blog on politics in Canada (sort of on this topic) check out Scott Feschuk’s Blackberry Blog. (Disclaimer: putting the Liberal site on here has no reflection on which party I will be voting for, it is a reflection of the fact that I think Scott Feschuk is hilarious. Just to keep things even, the Conservative blog, but it’s not funny.)

Oh, and I like andrewcoyne.com, good comments, my type of humour.

Conclusions: Harper fumbled, Martin mumbled, Layton is done, and Duceppe won.