Conservatives hold 1st bilingual leadership debate tonight

Surely more than one of the Conservative leadershipcandidates weretossing and turning in their beds last night, envisioning a worst-case scenario at tonight's debate: Did the moderator just say cheveuxor chevaux?

With no simultaneoustranslation, the candidates will have to know whether such a question is on hair or horses.Cue the cold sweat.

Sure, that example is a stretch. Butthe bilingual element of tonight'sdebate injects more unpredictability into this showcase for the 14 declared candidates. It also raises an obvious question: Must onespeak French to become the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada?

Conservatives vote for a new party leader in May 2017.There is some suggestion that all 14 declared candidates believe bilingualism matters, at least abit. Even those who struggle in French have taken lessons andinsist they're trying to improve.

The only exception is a man who says he has not yet made up his mind about running. Businessman Kevin O'Learymade headlines for saying he had failed Frenchin school and wouldn't try to learn now. He did say, however, that it wouldn't matter because he speaks the "the language of jobs."

Thecandidates' French language proficiencyranges from somewhatpitoyableto pretty muchparfait.

There's been much discussion ahead of this debateof precisely how well, or poorly,the candidates will perform.

"Who is fluentlybilingual? It's very subjective," said Quebec MP GerardDeltell.

ForDeltell, the minimum standard is to be able to answer questions and chat in both English and French."But three years from now I want to see my leader do very wellin a debate with Justin Trudeau."

• Maxime Bernier endorsed by Tony Clement
• Conservatives split over carbon tax, immigration

The remarkably crowded field of 14 candidates means each individual won't have too many opportunities to weigh in during the Monctondebate.Candidates will face fourEnglish questions and fourFrench questions, with 50 seconds to respond per question.

Each of the candidates will be allowedone 30-second rebuttal during the entire two-hour discussion. There will be no simultaneoustranslation for the candidates or the audience.

Deltell doubts the lack of translator will play much of a role, and doesn't think it will affect the results.

"I think that people will recognize people who can recognize a question in French and in English without any difficulties," he said.

French test

Many Conservatives question whether a leadership candidate could hope to become prime minister without a strong grasp of both official languages.

"I think most Conservatives want to put in place a leader that can appeal to the broadest number of Canadians possible," said former Conservative cabinet minister James Moore.

"I think unilingual anglophone Canadians would have a very hard time finding a way to vote for a unilingual francophone candidate for prime minister and I think the reverse is equally true," he added.

Moore points out that about 10 million Canadians say they can speak French.

Quebec is the only place the Conservative party gained seats in the last election. Moore points out that bilingual New Brunswick, where this debate is being held, was also the source of eight seats for the Conservatives in 2011. How well a leader can communicate inboth of Canada's official languages, therefore, hasimplications forany potential road back to power.

French, Mooresaid, is just a "basic core competency" for anyone who hopes to lead the party and the country.

Those who struggle in Monctonwill only be under greater pressure moving forward. The party scheduled five debates at the outset of the leadership race.

The nextscheduled debate is Jan. 17 in Quebec City. It will be entirelyen francais.Two more bilingual debates will follow.

• What endorsements say about the Toryleadership race
• ThePollcast: Tory leadership race begins to heat up