While the leaders of the Federal Party are preparing to compete in the debates in Montreal this week, experts say they are probably working on a positive body language and polish their French skills.
Dan Arnold, director of strategy at Pollara and former sound for the Liberals of Trudeau, said that the leaders had probably participated in “simulated debates” in studios rented with their teams before the big show.
These debates are probably recorded to allow the campaign Teams to analyze what worked and what did not work in terms of communication and body language.
Arnold said Trudeau had “at least half a dozen leadership debates if” before the start of the 2015 campaign. Taking into account his chaotic year, he said, Liberal chief Mark Carney may not have had as much time to prepare as the other candidates.
Arnold said most of the campaigns come on and embarking on the debate preparing the day before the event by mapping different scenarios.
Carney’s only public event on Monday was an announcement on its defense plan.
Arnold, who was part of the central campaign of Trudeau in 2015, 2019 and 2021, said that leaders will have a debate book made with key messages they wish to deliver to popular subjects such as prices.
If it is done well, he said, the book will also include details on other subjects, such as the laws on the control of firearms and languages.
“The winner of the debates is the person who connects with the voters,” said Arnold. “These are simply who connects well with voters in a different situation in which voters can be used to seeing them.”
The debates took place a few days before Canadians can participate in an advanced vote. A LEGER survey, conducted for the Canadian press last week, suggested that 44% of Canadians would vote liberal, against 37% who would vote conservative and eight percent who would vote the NPD.
It is not clear to what extent the debates will have an impact on the vote – the LEGER survey suggests that 61% of Canadians have already made their decision.
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The latest Ipsos survey was conducted exclusively for Global News which was published on Sunday Also shows that the liberals continue to carry out the federal electoral race halfway from the campaign, but the conservatives have reduced the gap.
Federal leaders will participate in a French language debate on Wednesday and a debate in English on Thursday. The two debates will last two hours and will be broadcast live from the Maison de Radio-Canada in Montreal.
The debates will cover similar themes, including the cost of living and energy and climate.
The French debate will also cover immigration and foreign affairs, identity and sovereignty, as well as trade war. The English debate will cover “conducting a crisis”, public security, security and prices and threats to Canada.
Amanda Galbraith, an expert in communication and management and partner and partner at Oyster Group, said that the preparation of the debate is to work with a team that has focused exclusively on debates since the start of the campaign.
“What they have done is to analyze what other campaigns have done, prepare binders and train to play the role of other leaders,” said Galbraith, Who was advisor to former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
To prepare for French debates, Galbraith said that leaders will probably spend the day listening only to French television and radio and dive into the language.
Galbraith said that the risk that Carney is confronted from its tendency to become “snippy” when questioning its integrity.
She said that he will have to monitor this trend in the debate because her rivals will hold him for him and target his weakness.
Arnold said that the presentation – how often a leader smiles, how much he looks at the camera and to what extent he projects seriousness – can make a big difference in a debate performance.
“You want to make sure you log in at least with people and that you appear as a friendly and confident person,” he said.
Carney’s French language skills have been examined, in particular since its participation in the debate on French leadership.
Arnold said Carney probably perfected his French by speaking with his team in the language and engaging with the French media. He said he was probably also learning a Quebec jargon to use Wednesday in the hope of connecting with voters.
Arnold said Carney also had to let his personal side come out more during the debates by sharing anecdotes in a relaxed manner.
Hairyvre, he said, probably works more on his behavior than its content before events.
“Where he has trouble connecting right now, it’s this tone. He looks too much like Trump for some people, he seems too aggressive for others,” said Arnold.
“If Hairyvre cannot change the way people think they are entering this debate, he will probably not win the elections.”
Galbraith also said that Hairyvre needed to soften its rough edges and find a way to attack Carney without looking too aggressive.
Arnold said that if the chief of the Quebec Bloc Yves-François Blanchet fights for the votes of Quebec, the chief of the NPD, Jagmeet Singh, “is fighting for a relevance”. He said Singh needed to say something that attracts people’s attention during the debates to get back into the minds of voters.
Arnold said the debate is a chance for the co-leader of the Green Party Jonathan Pedneault to go to the Canadians.
He said that Carney’s expectations are “quite weak” since he had struggled in the French -language debate during the management race.
“In this debate, Chrystia Freeland helped him when he had a hard time finding the right word. I don’t think Pierre Hairy gives Mark Carney a hand if he has problems,” he said.
Arnold said that many work that the parties have been debated when the debates are over. It is at this point that campaign staff were working to win the “post-debate media war” by amplifying the right clips of leaders on social networks, he said.
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