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Here is how it sounded to the viewer:

A few gems from moderator Lisa LaFlamme of CTV who flung seconds as bait to the leaders:“Mr. Trudeau, … You have 45 seconds.”… “Mr. Singh, you have 30 seconds.”

HuffPost’s Althia Raj used her whip with equal valour:“Mr. Singh, you may begin. You have 40 seconds.” To the rest of the leaders at Raj’s mercy: “It’s 40 seconds for each leader …“You have 30 seconds.”

At one point Elizabeth May said what I believe everyone on stage wanted to, but resisted:“This is a 40-second debate with eight seconds left for me.”

It was left to Bloc Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet to mock the circus-like game, except for Rosemary Barton who alone could have handled the debate.

Blanchet beamed: “What’s the time? What’s the time?”

Maxime Bernier: “– in Alberta, 20, yeah –”

Blanchet: “Fifteen seconds, 14 seconds. …10 seconds.”

Blanchet to Trudeau: “Please answer. It’s 10 seconds.”

Barton:“Nine seconds. Well, let’s do open debate. Off you go. You’re starting that too. (Laughter).”

And then this unbelievable question to Trudeau by Barton:“Mr. Trudeau, Mr. Trudeau, five seconds to respond.”

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Through this exercise in virtue-signalling, one man stood tall – Jagmeet Singh. One would call him ‘a gentleman and a scholar’ in how he spoke as normal humans speak. Heart to heart, unscripted, he spoke about the challenges of ordinary Canadians.

He stood above the crowd on the stage, and as Canada’s first leader from a racial minority (full disclosure: I share his Punjabi ethnicity and mother tongue) who had the grace to face racism with a smile and brush it off his shoulders as dandruff.

Even after the debate, Singh was confronted by the media who wanted him to clarify his stand on Quebec’s Bill 21. Not only has the man faced racism, he alone was being asked why he wouldn’t fight Quebec, where the law is not seen as racist but as one guaranteeing separation between religion and state. No other politician was harangued the way Jagmeet Singh was.

On Oct. 21, Jagmeet Singh will have my vote, despite disagreeing with him on many issues. Faced with a choice between a former American dual citizen and a man who donned blackface and lied as Canada’s Prime Minister, I instead trust Mr. Singh.