Stephen Harper knew what was coming.

In this, the first debate of a protracted election campaign, he would have to fend off attacks from three adversaries standing literally, but not ideologically, to his right on a Toronto stage Thursday night.

He had to handle the NDP’s Thomas Mulcair, the Opposition leader, who remained calm and expertly picked his spots during the two-hour debate, a Green leader in Elizabeth May who, again, punched above her party’s weight when given the chance, and an eager, energized and at times hyperaggressive Justin Trudeau who performed well, but acted as if he was getting paid by the word.

Throughout, Harper tried to remain cool, but his bid to appear statesmanlike often came off too passive.

Harper — the most experienced debater on the stage — was in the toughest spot, but the bad news for him was that he was weakest when pushed on the economy, another sign that a file which was once his strong suit is gradually eroding as a strong card for a government seeking another term.

For Trudeau, this was a chance to show Canadians he had the gravitas to make this election a true three-way race and he passed, although there was no question he had the advantage of exceedingly low expectations.

If Conservatives were looking for material for an attack ad, Trudeau did not give it to them and he scored best when he went at Harper for lack of leadership, whether it was refusing to meet with premiers, his inability to get resources to market or calling on the provinces to help him with the Senate “before I appoint again.”

But that doesn’t mean he supplanted Mulcair as the strongest alternative to Harper, even if the NDP leader started proceedings slowly.

He surprisingly pulled his punches on the environment, retreating into the cocoon of “study” when pushed on pipelines (primarily by May who was in her sweet spot) and did not properly challenge Harper on democratic reform. But he hit his stride on foreign policy and the anti-terror act, C-51, and was able to clearly make his points as the evening wore on before stumbling in his closing remarks.

Mulcair was still introducing himself to many Canadians Thursday night, and there was nothing in the introduction to give pause to those who may be looking at him as a potential prime minister.

The Conservative leader tried to reassure Canadians that all was fine with the economy except for an energy sector being battered by matters out of Canadian control.

He rattled off the requisite numbers but it got lost in the din, and Mulcair may have got off the line of the night when he said Harper was the only prime minister who, when asked about the recession, could answer, “which one?”

But some of Harper’s best moments came when passivity worked to his advantage when his opponents wrangled with each other, particularly a bizarre interlude when Trudeau and Mulcair fenced over the NDP’s position that Quebec could separate on a vote of 50 per cent plus one.

Mulcair turned to Trudeau and asked for his number, repeatedly badgering him with “What’s your number, Justin? What’s your number?”

Trudeau gave him a number — “nine” — as in the number of Supreme Court of Canada justices who sat in judgment of the Clarity Act, but as the two men slagged each other, Harper merely bided his time before accusing Mulcair of “trying to throw gasoline on a fire that’s not burning.”

Mulcair’s position on the Clarity Act is unlikely to become a ballot question in October, but it does play to a perception stoked by Trudeau that the NDP is too cosy with the waning separatist movement in Quebec.

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This debate was unique in many ways. It was not televised by the traditional broadcasting consortium and viewership numbers for a midsummer event in a campaign that had not yet taken shape would be expected to be down.

Those who missed the debate missed a freewheeling forum expertly moderated by Maclean’s columnist Paul Wells.

Harper probably did not push back as hard as he could. But he didn’t exactly emerge battered and, given his vulnerabilities over almost a decade, there was a sense that given the three-to-one tilt on that stage, the Conservative leader was breathing fairly easy after this evening.