Federal leaders' debate: Manitobans weigh in online

Manitobans heard from federal political party leaders in their first debate of the 2015 election campaign on Thursday night, and many took to social media to give their two centson the arguments and issues.

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CBC Manitoba hadthreepoliticalsupporterswatching their party leaders, live-tweetingand discussing the issuesthroughout theMaclean's-hosteddebate, whichran from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. CT.

Check out what they and other Manitobanssaidwith our #DebateMBlive blog recapbelow.

• ON MOBILE? Follow our live bloghere.

What our live-tweetersthought

The three partisan political supporters wholive-tweeted the debate fromCBC Manitoba's studios agreed that there was no clear winner.

Danielle Keenan @DaniGirlK

"Idon't think there was a clear winner, but Idothink that JustinTrudeaudefinitely showed up, had his game face on and definitely exceeded the expectations," said Keenan,who isdirector of political outreach for TerryDuguid, the Liberal candidate in Winnipeg South.

Keenan, 31,is currentlystudying public relations at the University of Winnipeg.In the past,she was president of the Manitoba chapter of theYoung Liberals of Canada group, as well as president of the Manitoba chapter of theNational Liberal Women's Commission.

Mohammad Almaleki @M_Almaleki

Almaleki, who aligns himself with the Conservative vote, gave credit to both NDP Leader Tom Mulcair andConservative Leader Stephen Harper following Thursday night'sdebate.

"I think toMulcair'scredit he really, for better or worse, he was very consistent on his message, and so was Harper," he said.

Almaleki, 21, is an Iraqi-Canadian whoworks in real estate development. While he once found a connection with the Liberal party, he was disillusioned by the leadership and lacks faith in Justin Trudeau's leadership.

Almalekisays he particularlyappreciates theConservatives' foreign policy.

Ben Wickstrom @benwickstrom

Ben Wickstrom, 31, is completing his law degree at the University of Manitoba. In the past, he worked as an NDP staffer in the Manitoba legislature.

"I think Justin Trudeau showed up with his pants on, to be sure, but I don't think he wowed anyone," he said."I think Harper and [Green Party Leader Elizabeth]May did a fine job."

Political watchers were also seen followingthe debate atthe Yellow Dog Tavern and other venues on Thursday evening.

Among those who packedthe Yellow Dog was Aaron Zeighers, who concluded that debates rarely have winners especially among those who are already decided.

"I guess people will kind of often believe what they want to believe in these kind of things, where if they support one person they are going to agree with that person and think that person is winning when other people will see it in a completely different way," he said.