An absent Justin Trudeau was the primary target for opposition leaders Thursday during the first debate of the federal election campaign but his rivals managed to bloody one another as well.

Trudeau gave the Macleansa国际传媒檚/Citytv debate a pass, preferring to spend his time at a rally in Edmonton. Even before they took to the debate stage in Toronto, his rivals accused Trudeau of cowardice, afraid to defend what they described as his abysmal record.

But some of the sharpest exchanges during the debate saw opposition leaders attacking each other, particularly the NDPsa国际传媒檚 Jagmeet Singh and the Greenssa国际传媒� Elizabeth May, who, polls suggest, are locked in a potentially existential battle for third place.

Both portrayed Trudeausa国际传媒檚 Liberals and Andrew Scheersa国际传媒檚 Conservatives as establishment parties that cater to the wealthy and vied to present themselves as the real progressive alternative.

Scheer, for the most part, kept his sights trained on Trudeau, lambasting him for running up massive deficits despite promising in 2015 that he would return the federal budget to balance after a few years of modest red ink. He warned that a re-elected Liberal government will raise taxes to pay off the accumulating debt and promised a Conservative government would sa国际传媒渓ive within its meanssa国际传媒� and return to budgetary balance within five years.

sa国际传媒淏y getting back to balanced budgets, we can lower taxes and put more money in your pockets, so that you can get ahead,sa国际传媒� Scheer said. sa国际传媒淭hat is what this election is all about: who do you trust to make life more affordable and help you get ahead?sa国际传媒�

But both Singh and May countered that Scheer would cut taxes for the wealthy and cut services for the rest. And, on foreign policy, they accused him of being a clone of U.S. President Donald Trump.

sa国际传媒淚 realize if anyone wants to know where you stand, just figure out what Trump wants, sa国际传媒� said May. sa国际传媒漎ou will do what Trump wants. He might as well be the ventriloquist and yousa国际传媒檙e Charlie McCarthy.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 just false,sa国际传媒� countered Scheer.

DONsa国际传媒橳 MISS:

Charlie McCarthy was the doll in U.S. entertainer Edgar Bergensa国际传媒檚 act, which was big from the 1930s to the sa国际传媒�50s.

Scheer dodged several questions from the debate moderator, Macleansa国际传媒檚 columnist Paul Wells, about whether he still supports Brexit now that the United Kingdomsa国际传媒檚 move to leave the European Union is mired in chaos. But Singh took the opportunity to tie Scheersa国际传媒檚 pro-Brexit sentiment with a broader anti-immigration sentiment, accusing Scheer of using sa国际传媒漝efamatory languagesa国际传媒� about refugee claimants arriving in Canada through unofficial border crossings and of having sa国际传媒漵ome associationsa国际传媒� with anti-immigrant Yellow Vesters.

sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 just not true. Yousa国际传媒檙e just making things up,sa国际传媒� Scheer said, insisting that Conservatives want a fair, orderly and compassionate immigration system.

Both Singh and May went after Scheer over Conservative senatorssa国际传媒� blocking a bill that would have ensured Canadian laws conform to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. It stalled in the Senate and died with the election call.

Scheer defended his senators, arguing that Conservatives were concerned the bill would have required free, prior, informed consent of Indigenous communities for any resource project, effectively giving a veto to a single community that could hold all the others sa国际传媒渉ostage.sa国际传媒� May and Singh chided him for what they called disrespectful and inappropriate language.

Despite their jabs at one another, the three opposition leaders rarely lost a chance to pummel their primary target: Trudeau. Debate on Indigenous issues veered into the SNC-Lavalin affair, with Scheer taking the opportunity to remind viewers that Trudeau is the only prime minister to have been found to have broken ethics law.

sa国际传媒淎nd now we find out that the RCMP is looking into this case with a view to possible obstruction of justice charges and he is obstructing their attempts to get the truth,sa国际传媒� Scheer said, referring to reports this week that the RCMP probe has been stymied by the refusal to waive cabinet confidentiality on matters surrounding former attorney general that she was improperly pressured to stop the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.

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Earlier in the day, Trudeau stuck by his decision to participate only in two official debates next month and a third in French hosted by TVA. And he suggested hesa国际传媒檇 prefer to be on the campaign trail in B.C. and Alberta anyway.

sa国际传媒淭he opportunity to get out across this country, speak with Canadians, listen to them, and talk about how we are going to build a better future for everyone and how wesa国际传媒檙e going to choose a better future for everyone is at the core of what this election is all about for me,sa国际传媒� he said in Victoria, where he announced an expansion of a program to help first-time homebuyers.

That night, he was revving up party faithful at a rally in Edmonton, reminding Albertans of his government helping them to weather the plunge in world oil prices, including buying the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.

The Canadian Press

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