BOMB, DROPPED — When PIERRE POILIEVRE decides to make news, he gets the job done. A few minutes into Wednesday's first official Conservative leadership debate in downtown Edmonton, Poilievre matter-of-factly committed to "replace" TIFF MACKLEM as governor of the Bank of Canada. Playbook skipped over to Team Poilievre at the back of the room. "Did I mishear that?" His senior aides were all too happy to confirm that he meant what he said. That eye-popping declaration — he'd fire a central banker for incompetence — was a clear escalation from Poilievre's position on Macklem's performance only a couple of weeks ago. At a chilly April presser outside BOC HQ in downtown Ottawa, Poilievre railed against the governor's pandemic monetary policy. Reporters naturally asked him if he had confidence in the man in charge of monetary policy. At the time, Poilievre's target was JUSTIN TRUDEAU. Macklem was simply the ATM spewing out all the cash the PM needed under the guise of quantitative easing. A patsy with a printing press. So much for that. When moderator TOM CLARK granted every candidate 30 seconds near the end of the debate to say anything they wanted, Poilievre sharpened his language. He'd "fire" Macklem. Afterwards, it was all the broadcast reporters could talk about off the top of their hits. Little else seemed to matter. — Spotted in the crowd: Among many others, former MPs LAURIE HAWN, STOCKWELL DAY and KERRY DIOTTE. Current MP ANDREW SCHEER. NDP strategist SALLY HOUSER. Lawyer and tweeter of things political KARAMVEER LALH . — As for Playbook's view: "I heard a debate was happening in Edmonton," your host joked with a Charest loyalist after taking a seat at the far side of the sprawling hall reserved for journalists. (We secured a spot closer to the action thanks to the hospitality of Global's DAVID AKIN. Solidarity forever.) — How the room felt: Sedate, mostly. Longtime Tory comms guy CORY HANN warned the candidates against a repeat of the Ottawa debate where no holds were barred. Civil war, Hann said, could haunt the party when future Liberal attack ads hit the airwaves. Maybe they listened. The candidates weren't fired up like they were in Ottawa, where moderators CANDICE MALCOLM and JAMIL JIVANI egged on fiery exchanges. The crowd didn't bring the energy, largely because Clark forbade applause and threatened to take time away from any candidate who inspired hooting and hollering. (The crowd didn't always follow that rule.) — Who won the room? Poilievre, the de facto western candidate who grew up in Calgary before winning seven elections in suburban Ottawa. He played to the crowd, shouting out Alberta-born country singer PAUL BRANDT when Clark asked the candidates for the music they're listening to these days (more on that below). — A funky format: The party's debate organizers handed Clark a doozy of a job: a lightning round that challenged candidates to reveal quirky personal details. What are they reading? What's on their playlist? What TV show are they binging? Who is their political hero? Bizarre? Yup! Substantive? Nope! Entertaining? You be the judge! Highlights: "There's no time to play around reading books" on the campaign trail, PATRICK BROWN quipped before admitting he's partial to JOHN GRISHAM novels and rags-to-riches stories. SCOTT AITCHISON is hooked on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. ROMAN BABER said watching Married with Children was how he learned English as a young immigrant. LESLYN LEWIS listens to jazz (specifically, "COLTRANE"). JEAN CHAREST's political hero is D'ARCY MCGEE. As for Poilievre? He shouted out JORDAN PETERSON's wildly popular and controversial "12 Rules for Life" — a surefire way to attract the anti-woke brigade of culture warriors. Relatedly, an episode of Peterson's podcast featuring a "wide-ranging conversation" with Poilievre drops Monday. In case you needed a long dose of anti-establishment synergy. — Distinctions drawn: Charest, Brown and Aitchison self-identified as "pro-choice." Poilievre at first refused to offer his personal view on abortion. He later clarified: "I believe in freedom of choice on the issue." Baber said the government has no business deciding when life begins. Lewis was the stage's sole "pro-life" standard bearer. — Mispronunciations of the night: Somebody must've forgotten to give Clark a pronouncer on every candidate's name. He referred to Baber as BAY-ber, not the correct BAH-ber. (The leadership longshot never corrected the former journalist.) Lewis called the frontrunner PAWL-iver, which a lot of westerners have occasionally heard from the frontrunner's own mouth. (He now goes by Paul-ee-EV, as he explained to Maclean's SHANNON PROUDFOOT. He added: "I always tell people I don’t care how you pronounce my name as long as you know how to put an X beside it on election day.") — The Liberal spin: At 9:13 p.m. local time, the government's talking points landed in reporters' inboxes, attributed to Ottawa MP YASIR NAQVI. "Canadians deserve responsible leadership, but instead, Conservative leadership candidates are focused on appeasing the anti-science, anti-vaccine, anti-choice, and pro-blockade wings of their party. They have made it clear that they would take Canada backward." — Next stop: A French-language debate in suburban Laval, Quebec on May 25. — What Wednesday's debate changed: Not much. This was not a night of knockout punches, tectonic momentum shifts or total flameouts. Everyone will remember the strange format and the beautiful view of the North Saskatchewan River Valley. Oh, and Poilievre's verbal declaration of war against the man who heads up a national institution that's in the middle of an inflation crisis. That'll leave a mark. POLITICO's ANDY BLATCHFORD has a full report on Poilievre's bombshell.
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