Is it clear who won the French-language debate? Pas tellement

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Into every debate, a little levity must fall. Cue the best ever, deadpan response from an "ordinary voter."

Can we have her hang out for the rest of the campaign, just to tell it like it is?

Here's what you need to know on day 23:

​The Breakout

By Jonathan Montpetit, @jonmontpetit

Let's get one thing straight. The real winner of last night's French-language debate was Raymonde Chagnon, a woman from Mirabel, Que., who asked the first question about elder care.

After the four leaders gave their spiel, moderator Patrice Roy turned again to Chagnon: Did that clarify things?

"Not really," she replied in French. And in that moment, an internet meme was born.

Otherwise, there was little consensus in Quebec's French-language press about who, out of the actual leaders, triumphed.

Many felt that while Parti Québécois Leader Jean-François Lisée put in the liveliest performance, he might have been too sharp with his rivals.

In Trois-Rivières, they felt François Legault, of Coalition Avenir Québec, didn't quite come across looking like the next premier.

Mixed reviews, too, for the incumbent, Philippe Couillard. Sherbrooke's La Tribune was unswayed by his defence of the Liberal government's record on health care and education.

It was also noted that Québec Solidaire's Manon Massé was quiet for long stretches of the debate. Being the sole woman, "it's a factor," she explained at one point.

At least two male journalists felt that remark a strategic mistake. Josée Legault and Lise Ravary, on the other hand, thought she gave one of the better performances of the evening.

The Breakdown​

• After stressing, repeatedly, how important it is to fight climate change during the debate, Manon Massé laid out her party's overall plan today to "radically alter" the province's economy. How? In part, by becoming a world leader in the production of rechargeable lithium batteries. Quebec needs an "ecological revolution," she said.
• Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante took issue with Francois Legault's comment that Montreal has "too many" city councillors. Legault said (again) that he wants to reduce the size of city council, à la Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Plante accused Legault of "interference" and said the size of city council is not a priority for Montrealers.

• Alex Tyrrell, the leader of the Green Party of Quebec, couldn't take part in the leaders' debate — parties without a seat weren't invited. So he improvised, recording a Facebook video where he slammed the leaders for their lack of focus on the environment. Even Québec Solidaire, he said, didn't go far enough.

The Mic

Alex Tyrrell said a vote for his party is never a waste. "The Green Party is actually funded based on the number of votes we receive." Is that true? How does that work? -Scott Fitzgerald, Montreal

Thanks for your question, Scott. It's true — even if your chosen candidate doesn't win their seat, your vote doesn't go to waste.

Élections Québec gives political parties $1.58 a year for each vote received in the previous election.

The Green Party, for instance, gets over $50,000 a year in public financing, based on its 0.55 per cent vote share in the 2014 election.

The Conservatives, who took 0.39 per cent of the vote in 2014 with 59 candidates, get a little over $36,500 annually.

The New Democratic Party of Quebec will be on the ballot for the first time in a decade — and are hoping the extra money will help them get established as a provincial party.

Check out our profiles of the Greens and NPDQ and tune into Daybreak Sept. 20 to hear an interview with Conservative Party of Quebec Leader Adrien Pouliot.

Do you have election questions you want answered? Send your queries to ballotbrief@cbc.ca and we'll choose some to be answered right here.

The Great (English-language) Debate

So, what are you up to on Monday? You're cordially invited into our virtual living room for our Facebook live debate watch party!

All you need to do is hop onto our live stream and join in the chat. We'll have a pre-game show with our TV newscast and a post-game show with the Homerun crew. We've set up this invite so you won't forget. Yes, you can bring a plus 1.

If you'd rather just watch it alone, thank you very much, you can stream it on our YouTube channel, check it out on Periscope, tune in on television to CBC Montreal or watch on this website.

If listening is more your thing, it'll also be broadcast live on Radio One. Phew. Now you can't say you couldn't find it!

Hope you all have a lovely Friday evening and a relaxing weekend.

We'll be back tomorrow with a deeper look at the polls and a roundup of those stories you were going to read when you had more time. Remember?

We'd love to hear your feedback! Drop us a line at ballotbrief@cbc.ca or check us out on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

À la prochaine,

-Melinda Dalton, social media editor