Fingerpointing and name-calling defined a mayoral debate in Ottawa Sunday that was supposed to be a chance for lesser known candidates to get some face time.
All 20 candidates were invited, but only eight showed up -- none of them considered frontrunners.
There was a fair bit of sniping between two candidates: Jane Scharf and Charlie Taylor.
Debate over supporting Scharf's efforts
One of the other candidates accused Taylor of being unfairly prejudiced because Taylor had complained repeatedly about not being invited into debates.
When Haydon and O'Brien withdrew from one opportunity last week, Taylor got the invitation -- and then did not support Jane Scharf's effort to enter the debate herself.
"I'm sort of being singled out as a Judas because -- you know -- I had the opportunity, and I took the opportunity," Taylor said.
"He didn't offer to withdraw, he didn't defend me, and afterwards he made derogatory comment to the press that I just did this for publicity," countered Scharf.
"I think they're threatened because I'm the only woman, and that that would give me an advantage if the public knew I was running."
Complaints about attention
In the business of politics, where half the battle is name recognition, the men who aren't considered front-runners also complained about not getting enough attention.
"In Ottawa, we have 20 candidates running for mayor, and they only talk about three or four," said Robert Gauthier.
A few new ideas came to the surface during the debate. Idris Ben-Tahir said he wants a bypass to help ease traffic.
Joseph Furtenbacher said he'll do the job for a deep discount -- a salary of only $40,000.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Stefan Keyes
