The only English-language debate to feature all six federal party leaders devolved Monday into crosstalk and mudslinging as the leaders tried to break the impasse in voting intentions that has persisted through three weeks of campaigning.
As the incumbent prime minister, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau inevitably bore the brunt of the attacks, with the sharpest coming from Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, who called him sa国际传媒渁 phoney and a fraud.sa国际传媒�
But the format of the debate and the sheer number of leaders on stage made substantive debate on policies difficult and, as they talked over one another, often impossible to hear.
As Trudeau and Scheer, battled it out for first place in the minds of voters, other party leaders tried to position themselves as alternatives to the warring front-runners.
After a set-to between Trudeau and Scheer over who has the better climate-change policy, the NDPsa国际传媒檚 Jagmeet Singh told viewers they donsa国际传媒檛 have to choose between sa国际传媒滿r. Delay and Mr. Deny.sa国际传媒�
Elizabeth May, whose Green party is fighting with the NDP for third place, framed the choice differently.
sa国际传媒淎t this point, Mr. Scheer, with all due respect, yousa国际传媒檙e not going to be prime minister,sa国际传媒� she said bluntly at one point. She predicted that Trudeausa国际传媒檚 Liberals will win at least a minority government so sa国际传媒渧oting for Green MPs is your very best guarantee, Canada, that you donsa国际传媒檛 get the government you least want.sa国际传媒�
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Regardless of the question, Singh took every opportunity to repeat his favourite theme: that Liberals and Conservatives alike pander to wealthy corporations whereas the NDP will fight for ordinary Canadians with investments in child care, pharmacare and dental care.
In a debate that very often featured after-the-bell jabs right before the tumbling roster of moderators moved on to new topics, Singh cracked the most jokes.
More than once, someone called him sa国际传媒淢r. Scheersa国际传媒� by mistake; after the second time, Singh said hesa国际传媒檇 even worn a bright orange turban so theysa国际传媒檇 be easy to tell apart. Scheer joked back that his own slight height advantage should have done the trick.
But in the main, like the other leaders, Singh was deadly serious about his targets.
sa国际传媒淢r. Trudeau does not have the courage to take on the insurance and the pharmaceutical lobbyists who donsa国际传媒檛 want this to happen,sa国际传媒� Singh said. sa国际传媒淵ou vote New Democrats, wesa国际传媒檙e going to make sure wesa国际传媒檙e going to make these things happen because we donsa国际传媒檛 work for the powerful and wealthy sa国际传媒� We work for you.sa国际传媒�
Trudeau attempted to remind voters of his governmentsa国际传媒檚 record: lifting 900,000 Canadians out of poverty, creating almost one million jobs, robust economic growth, cutting taxes for the middle-class. And he argued that the Liberals have done more to tackle climate change than any Canadian government in history.
Trudeau also cast himself as a champion of diversity, inclusion and human rights, pointing out that hesa国际传媒檚 the only federal leader to leave the door open to intervening in a court challenge to Quebecsa国际传媒檚 secularism law, which forbids certain public servants, including teachers and police, from wearing religious symbols.
Let's do this. It's time for you to get ahead!
sa国际传媒� Andrew Scheer (@AndrewScheer)
But right from his opening remarks, Scheer went after Trudeau on everything from the SNC-Lavalin affair to his recent apology for appearing in blackface several times in the distant past.
sa国际传媒淛ustin Trudeau only pretends to stand up for Canada,sa国际传媒� Scheer said. sa国际传媒淵ou know, hesa国际传媒檚 very good at pretending things. He cansa国际传媒檛 even remember how many times he put blackface on because the fact of the matter is hesa国际传媒檚 always wearing a mask.sa国际传媒�
Scheer accused Trudeau of wearing masks on Indigenous reconciliation, feminism and on his concern for middle-class Canadians.
sa国际传媒淢r. Trudeau, yousa国际传媒檙e a phoney and yousa国际传媒檙e a fraud and you do not deserve to govern this country.sa国际传媒�
The format of the debate gave Trudeau no immediate opportunity to respond to Scheersa国际传媒檚 attack, but he repeatedly went after Scheer at other times for his personal anti-abortion views and for promoting tax cuts for the rich.
Scheer rounded on Trudeau again later, raising the SNC-Lavalin affair. He accused Trudeau of breaking ethics law, shutting down parliamentary inquiries and firing two senior female cabinet ministers who objected to his trying to pressure his former attorney general to halt a criminal prosecution of the Montreal engineering giant.
sa国际传媒淭ell me, when did you decide that the rules donsa国际传媒檛 apply to you?sa国际传媒� he said.
sa国际传媒淢r. Scheer, the role of a prime minister is stand up for Canadianssa国际传媒� jobs, to stand up for the public interest and thatsa国际传媒檚 what Isa国际传媒檝e done,sa国际传媒� Trudeau responded.
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Trudeau got back-up of a sort from Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet, who accused Scheer of being willing to sacrifice thousands of SNC-Lavalin employees and of playing the old card that Quebecers are sa国际传媒渃orrupt.sa国际传媒�
Trudeau then veered onto one of his favourite themes, accusing Scheer of giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Canadians and conducting himself just like Ontario Premier Doug Ford. He also noted that Scheer hasnsa国际传媒檛 yet released a fully costed platform, which he called sa国际传媒渁 disrespect for every Canadian.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淵ousa国际传媒檙e choosing, just like Doug Ford did, to hide your platform from Canadians and deliver cuts to services and cut taxes for the wealthiest. Thatsa国际传媒檚 not the way to grow the economy.sa国际传媒�
Mr. Scheer is promising $17 billion in cuts - that's more than 4 times Doug Ford's cuts in Ontario.
sa国际传媒� Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau)
As for Maxime Bernier, Scheersa国际传媒檚 one-time leadership rival who quit the Conservatives to form the Peoplesa国际传媒檚 Party of Canada, Trudeau said his job on the debate stage was to say the things Scheer believes privately.
Bernier fought back against accusations that his party is extreme right and anti-immigration, arguing that itsa国际传媒檚 not radical to want to cut Canadasa国际传媒檚 annual immigration intake by half. He repeatedly referred to the NDP and Green parties as sa国际传媒渟ocialist.sa国际传媒�
Earlier Monday, the shadow of Ford loomed large over the pre-debate campaign trail as the Liberals kept lumping the Ontario premier together with Scheer, while the Conservatives did their best to pry the two apart.
Front-runners Scheer and Trudeau sa国际传媒� deadlocked in the polls, by most accounts sa国际传媒� made brief appearances in Ottawa before joining their four other foes in preparing for the debate. Trudeau met a group of Ontario teachers in a bid to highlight ongoing tensions between the provincesa国际传媒檚 education workers and the Ford government sa国际传媒� tensions that eased ever so slightly the night before when a last-minute agreement saved parents across the province from a potentially disruptive strike.
Fordsa国际传媒檚 cuts to services such as education have made him unpopular with voters and a drag on federal Conservative fortunes, observers say. Indeed, the premiersa国际传媒檚 absence from the Scheer campaign became all the more glaring over the weekend when Alberta Premier Jason Kenney glided in to pitch for Scheer in Toronto, including in Fordsa国际传媒檚 home turf of Etobicoke.
You don't have to choose between Mr. Delay () & Mr. Deny ().
sa国际传媒� Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh)
It's time to start fighting the climate crisis like we want to win by taking on the largest polluters & creating 300,000 new jobs in the clean energy economy of the future.
Trudeau has been trying to take advantage, linking Ford to Scheer every chance he can. The premier will oppose and interfere with Liberal efforts to reduce child poverty and increase federal child benefits, Trudeau said, warning Scheer would only make matters worse.
sa国际传媒淩ight now wesa国际传媒檙e in an election where the option is to double down on Conservative approaches, which always cut services, looks for austerity and gives tax breaks to the wealthiest instead of to everyone else,sa国际传媒� he said.
Scheer, whosa国际传媒檇 much rather not talk about Ford, called Trudeausa国际传媒檚 photo op with teachers a sa国际传媒渄isgustingsa国际传媒� attempt to politicize education. (In the debate later, he suggested Trudeau seek the vacant leadership of the Ontario Liberal party, since hesa国际传媒檚 so interested in provincial issues.)
Meanwhile, Scheersa国际传媒檚 party carefully tried to set itself apart from Ford on at least one issue that has been particularly troublesome for the Ontario leader: autism.
Alberta Conservative Mike Lake issued a written statement saying the Conservatives would establish a national autism strategy with $50 million in funding over five years. Scheer, in Ottawa to promise free admission to Canadasa国际传媒檚 national museums, breathed nary a word about it.
Lake, whose son Jaden was diagnosed with autism when he was two years old, is a well-known global advocate for autism awareness and treatment.
The Conservatives appeared all day to be leading up the debate with a plan to go after the Liberals for an allegedly secret plan to tax profits on home sales made within one, two or three years of purchasing. A new website and multiple tweets to that effect were met by the Liberals with a press conference where Liberal Steven MacKinnon reiterated that Trudeau had kiboshed the proposal, which was mentioned in a 2018 report to Ontario caucus as an idea that had come up in townhall meetings. The Conservatives responded saying MacKinnon had sa国际传媒渃onfirmedsa国际传媒� the plan, even though he had said the opposite.
May has been doing her best to parry an NDP narrative that her candidates are opposed to abortion, but that got a little harder Monday with word that Marthe Lepine had been sa国际传媒渞emovedsa国际传媒� as the Green candidate in an eastern Ontario riding for sa国际传媒渧iews about abortion that did not align with (Green party) policy.sa国际传媒�
The six leaders will face off again Thursday in the official French-language debate.
sa国际传媒� With files from Lee Berthiaume
Joan Bryden and Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press
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