French language leaders' debate rescheduled to 6 p.m. Wednesday because of Habs game

MONTREAL — They may not have qualified for the NHL playoffs yet, but the Montreal Canadiens scored a win Tuesday against the French-language debate which will now begin two hours early tomorrow to accommodate a key Habs game. French debate moderator Patrice Roy announced on social media Tuesday that the political clash was going to start two hours earlier than originally planned — 6 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. — to avoid too much overlap with the Canadiens game that evening. That’s because the Habs will be playing a likely make-or-break playoff qualification game against the Carolina Hurricanes starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday. If they win, the team revered by many Quebecers will qualify for the NHL playoffs. Ironically, the change of schedule could prove to be useless if the Columbus Blue Jackets — the only team that could still knock the Canadiens out of the playoff picture — lose to the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday evening. Tuesday, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet said they were concerned that the potentially crucial hockey game would pull significant amount of eyeballs away from the French language debate. “We’re asking people—especially in Quebec—to choose between a critical democratic  debate  and cheering on the Habs in a must-win game. This kind of political discussion shouldn’t compete with something that means so much to so many,” Singh said in a statement requesting the debate be held at another time. His statement noted that the French debate was rescheduled in 2011 to avoid conflicting with a playoff clash between the Canadiens and the Boston Bruins, who would go on to win the Stanley Cup. National Post cnardi@postmedia.com Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.