Last night’s federal election leaders’ debate was a tepid affair by most accounts.

Memorial University political scientist Amanda Bittner was among those who tuned in last night to take it all in.

She says the format made it hard to follow at times and difficult for the leaders to say what they thought about policy.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer took an opportunity right off the top to attack Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party, referencing the recent blackface/brownface controversy. But Bittner told VOCM Morning Show co-host Fred Hutton that Scheer’s comments were “well rehearsed” but didn’t contain a lot of policy content.

Green Leader Elizabeth May said Trudeau’s plan to fight climate change doesn’t go far enough.

Bittner says voters want to hear the leaders’ policies on pressing issues, like climate change. She says fact-checking showed that most of what the leaders said about climate change was inaccurate.

The NDP’s Jagmeet Singh said Canadians have other options on climate policy, and “do not need to choose between Mr. Delay and Mr. Deny.”

Justin Trudeau took a swipe at Scheer, telling him the only difference between Scheer and People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier was that Bernier was saying out loud what Scheer is thinking.

Bittner says negativity doesn’t usually sit well with voters and they want to see actual policies. She says while policy can be boring in the context of a debate, she’s not enthused about the “zingers” either.

She says when you deliver a one-liner and then grin about it, it appears “creepy” and is not necessarily effective.