by PATRICK LEJTENYI

Okay, we’re back. First order of business, this week’s debate here in Montreal. Due to deadline constraints, Election Notebook can only address Monday’s English debate. There’re a lot of topics to address, and we’ll get to them in short order. First off, who won? Conventional wisdom says nobody. While there were some fireworks, of a kind, there was no, as is said in the biz, “knock-out punch.” Taxes, crime, social policies and the unity question were all discussed, with Conservative leader—and current leader in national polls—Stephen Harper taking a lot of hits from the other three. To his credit, Harper remained cool and unruffled, staying on message, namely Liberal sleaze, and sounding lucid and intelligent as he absorbed the hits scored against him by Prime Minister Paul Martin, the Bloc’s Gilles Duceppe and the NDP’s Jack Layton. He also got off a couple of good anti-Liberal lines, especially this one: “Will you tell us, Mr. Martin, how many criminal investigations are going on in your government?” Snap!

• Speaking of the debate, did anyone notice how squeamish Harper looked when last month’s pro-swingers ruling was brought up? He looked like he’d just kissed a man full on the mouth. This being the new, cuddly Stephen Harper, however, he didn’t gag. But he did say he wasn’t happy with the decision, drawing spectres of the notwithstanding clause. Martin, in a surprise statement, promised to axe the clause, which lets governments override Supreme Court Charter decisions, if re-elected.

• Speaking of the debate again, would someone, anyone, please get Jack Layton a new media handler? Good God, how many times did he stare, full of earnest pleading, straight into the camera and spout election slogans (“It’s time for change. Vote NDP.” “The NDP stands for working families,” repeated ad nauseum)? Dude, it’s a debate, not a billboard. Lighten up. And answer the damn question.

• Amazing what one dead 15-year-old white girl can do to an election campaign. The murder of Toronto teen and innocent bystander Jane Creba, gunned down outside the Foot Locker near Yonge and Dundas on Dec. 26 in an exchange of gunfire between rival groups of young and armed thugs, brought gun control thundering into the campaign, almost out of the blue. While Martin had promised to ban all handguns before the shooting—a move supported by many in the Toronto area, including the mayor—Stephen Harper may stand most to gain with his tough law-and-order approach and minimum sentencing for handgun crimes. Toronto’s seen a record-breaking number of handgun deaths this year, so is it a coincidence that Conservative numbers surged after the Boxing Day shooting? With even CNN commenting on Hogtown’s gun violence, it’s doubtful many suburban 905ers are going to warm up to anything less than a serious crackdown on kids packing dangerous weapons.

• Is that Canada-quit-Haiti campaign the new anti-globalization movement? While still a fairly small group, with a localized area of interest, they are making life difficult for Foreign Minister and Liberal candidate for Papineau Pierre Pettigrew. Haiti Action Montreal, the main group urging Canada to withdraw from Haiti due to the wretched human rights conditions and brutality of Canadian-trained Haitian authorities, held a vigil outside Pettigrew’s office on Sunday, appeared at the CBC building among other protest groups Monday, and has generally been making a nuisance of itself wherever a high-ranking Liberal appears at a public function. It still hasn’t, however, become an election issue, nor have Canadian military commitments abroad.

• Election Day, Jan. 23, is going to suck no matter who wins. Last month, an Environment Canada meteorologist told CTV.ca News that Jan. 20 to Jan. 29 is the “dead of winter,” meaning it’s the coldest, meanest week-and-change of the season. The Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts flurries or storms on the East Coast, in Quebec, southern Ontario and the Prairies. But check the suicide rate for the next day, especially among your politically committed friends: British shrink Cliff Arnall says Jan. 24 is the worst day of the year for depression, using a mathematical formula based on the weather, Christmas bills, post-Christmas blues, abandoned resolutions and general low motivation.

• Finally, if you’re in the mood for a bit of pre-election fun, check out the Vote Your Heart NDP fundraiser this Sunday, Jan. 15 at la Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent), featuring Alexis O’Hara, Didier Boutin, Mission District, Hexes & Ohs and Dead Messenger, plus gregarious candidate for Outremont Léo-Paul Lauzon and Laurier-Ste-Marie’s François Grégoire. The gig starts at 8 p.m., $10.