Battling over Healthcare

Posted: January 27, 2012 - 10:56 , by royal
Categories: 
Programs and Events, History, Canada | Comments () | Comment

Submitted by Conrad Biernacki, ROM Programs Manager 

This past Wednesday evening, there was a battle in the main gallery at the Royal Ontario Museum. On one side of the stage was Michael Bliss who argued for the debate resolution that Tommy Douglas put Canada’s healthcare on the wrong path, and Greg Marchildon who took the opposing side. The evening was run according to strict debating rules and moderated by Jack Granatstein.

This debate is the second of a very successful second series of debates that take place at the ROM called History Wars.

In a straw vote at the beginning of the debate, the audience of nearly 550 clearly voted against the proposition, with barely a handful who were either for it or undecided.  By the end of the debate, a second vote showed that Bliss had managed to sway some support to his side, but just a little. Surprisingly, the number of undecided voters had noticeably increased. Bliss was clearly making the audience think.

550 people attended the History Wars debate

A number of people tweeted during the event using the hashtag #ROMHistoryWars. The audience could read them on the twitter wall at various times during the debate.

You can read the opening statements of both Bliss and Marchildon in yesterday’s National Post. The audio podcast of the entire event will be posted on the ROM website soon.  Other History Wars podcasts are here.

Next History Wars event takes place March 7: Canada is not Bilingual, Binational or Bicultural