If anyone needs more convincing that Montreal is the heart of the hockey world, this may do the trick.
Two federal party leaders are speaking up about the possibility of moving Wednesday’s first federal debate – the French-language leaders’ debate – because of what could be a crucial Canadiens game in their chase for a playoff spot.
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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling on organizers at the Leaders’ Debates Commission to move the debate “so Canadians don’t have to choose between democratic engagement and national pride.”
“We’re asking people — especially in Quebec — to choose between a critical democratic debate and cheering on the Habs in a must-win game,” said Singh in a statement. “This kind of political discussion shouldn’t compete with something that means so much to so many.
“Hockey is in our blood. This scheduling conflict makes the political system look out of touch and is going to have a serious impact on who tunes in to the only French debate of the campaign.”
The first of two federal debates is scheduled to begin Wednesday at 8 p.m. EDT in Montreal. At the same time, the Montreal Canadiens, who are seeking a spot in the playoffs, are taking on the Carolina Hurricanes in the final game of the NHL season.
But that game may not matter at all if the in-the-hunt Columbus Blue Jackets lose their encounter against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night. If that happens, the Habs will be playoff-bound, and Thursday’s contest will be meaningless.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet says he’s open to reaching out to the commission about the conflict.
“Let me think about this, in all candor,” Blanchet said Tuesday when asked by a reporter. “And we’ll call the commission, see what they tell us.”
CityNews has reached out to the Leaders’ Debates Commission for comment.
It wouldn’t be the first time an election debate was rescheduled because of a Canadiens game.
In 2011, a multi-partisan outcry led by then-Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe resulted in a debate being moved because it overlapped with a first-round playoff game against the Boston Bruins.
Duceppe said at the time there was little doubt hockey-mad Montreal fans would choose the game over the debate. Montreal went on to win that clash 2-0 on two goals by Brian Gionta, with Carey Price recording the 31-save shutout.
“I didn’t know that there had been such a demand by Gilles in 2011, so we will look into that,” Blanchet said Tuesday. “I would like anybody else to watch the game.
“I would like yesterday’s game to be a win for the Canadiens because the young Russian (Ivan Demidov) was on the ice, he scored. Then we would have been done with this season and then the playoffs would have begun.”
Both federal election debates will be streamed live on CityNews 24/7.
