HALIFAX — Which political leader came out on top during Thursday night's roundtable conversation with CTV's Steve Murphy? Depends who you ask.
"I don't think it's an even race. I kind of think the NDP is pulling ahead," said Sandy Ternoway.
When asked who performed the best, Bill Hale said he thought Liberal Leader Iain Rankin did.
Following Thursday night's roundtable, CTV News asked viewers and readers in a web poll who impressed them the most.
In all, 1,576 people voted with 34 per cent of respondents saying Tim Houston was most impressive, followed by Iain Rankin (21 per cent) and Gary Burrill (seven per cent), even more people — 35 per cent – said none of them.
"They took no major risks in this encounter and as a result there was no clear winner and no clear loser," said Tom Urbaniak, Political Science professor with Cape Breton University.
Liberal Leader Iain Rankin repeatedly went after Tim Houston.
"He is the one that wanted the full economy open when we hit 75 per cent of first doses and I want to ask Nova Scotians if you want to see us fully re-opened right now, we were actually in July when he was advocating for it, if you want to see that like Alberta and other provinces, vote for Tim," Rankin said. "If don't want to see that and you want to see a better alignment with public health, relying on facts, support the government."
Houston criticized the Liberal's record on long-term care.
"Let's talk about some of the decisions that this government made that lead to the terrible tragedy that happened at Northwood. Tragic loss of life because this government looked the other way three times when Northwood was asking for help," Houston said.
While Urbaniak credits moderator Steve Murphy for trying to move the leaders away from talking points, it was a tough sell. He thinks the most authentic moment came with Rankin suggested the NDP is supporting permanent rent control for philosophical reasons.
"Philosophical reasons nothing," Burrill said, who went on to tell the story of a mother with a daughter who has lived in the same home for 18 years but is now forced to move because she cannot afford the same situation.
"That's the reason why I think we need to have rent control," he said.
