Mark Carney

Four party leaders share agendas in debates 

Ruby Pratka, LJI reporter

The leaders of Canada’s four main political parties held two wide-ranging debates this past weekend at the Maison Radio-Canada in Montreal. The French-language debate on April 16 was moderated by Radio-Canada anchor Patrice Roy and the English debate the next evening by Steve Paikin, host of TVO’s The Agenda. 

The French-language debate was overshadowed by several controversies. Less than 24 hours before the debate, it was rescheduled to avoid a potential overlap with the end of a Montreal Canadiens game; the morning of the debate, Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault was ruled ineligible on the morning of the debate because Elections Canada had not confirmed a sufficient number of Green candidates. The post-debate press conference attracted nationwide attention when several right-wing outlets asked contentious questions and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh declined to answer; the following day’s conference was cancelled after two arguments between reporters in the press room, leading Michel Cormier, the director general of the Leaders’ Debates’ Commission, to say the commission “could not ensure a propitious environment” for it. 

It was centered around five themes – cost of living, energy and climate, trade war, identity and sovereignty, and immigration. All four leaders linked the themes to their respective agendas. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised to cut taxes by 15 per cent, eliminate federal sales tax on new homes and reduce regulations to speed the building of houses and resource extraction projects such as mines, and linked Carney’s proposals to those of his predecessor, Justin Trudeau. Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet emphasized Quebec’s resource-based economy and cultural and linguistic distinctions; Liberal Leader and frontrunner Mark Carney emphasized the importance of crisis management and the necessity of countertariffs. Singh repeatedly brought up the health system (which Blanchet emphasized was under provincial jurisdiction) and emphasized the NDP’s role in creating the federal dental care program. Carney pledged to reduce taxes for the middle class but defended his decision to walk back a capital gains tax increase.

The trade war segment led to animated discussion. All of the leaders pledged to maintain supply management in the dairy sector, the French language and Canadian sovereignty, and build more homes.

They all weighed in on Quebec City’s tramway and the proposed “third link” between Quebec City and Lévis.  “Quebec City wants a tramway, the Quebec government wants a tramway, the federal government’s responsibility is to send them the money,” Blanchet said. Singh said the NDP supported the tramway but not the third link; Poilievre backed the third link but not the tramway, accusing his rivals of wanting to “ban cars.” Carney said the federal government would continue to support the tramway, but he couldn’t commit to supporting the third link because he hadn’t seen the project yet. 

Issues affecting Indigenous people and linguistic minorities were almost entirely off the agenda, except for Poilievre’s defence of Radio-Canada as a crucial link for francophone minority communities. (He defended his plan to defund CBC and made no mention of Indigenous broadcasting.) 

The English debate was centred around public safety, the cost of living, energy, crisis management and “tariffs and threats to Canada.” The four leaders agreed that U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies posed a threat to the country, and both Carney and Poilievre said they supported countertariffs, although not necessarily dollar-for-dollar tariffs. Poilievre criticized the previous Liberal government for weakening the economy and making it more difficult to build pipelines which he argued were essential for the country’s energy independence. Singh criticized the short-lived Carney government for walking back the capital gains tax increase while failing to increase EI. Blanchet argued that Carney’s and Poilievre’s plans for reducing red tape around pipelines and other energy sovereignty projects overrode provincial jurisdiction. 

Poilievre and Singh criticized the Liberals for the cost-of-living crisis. “Only 10 years ago, you could buy a house for $450,000, but in the lost Liberal decade, housing costs have doubled,” the Conservative leader said, saying a Conservative government would build houses on federal land and train thousands of tradespeople. His NDP counterpart suggested putting price controls on grocery staples and banning corporate landlords from buying affordable rental housing units. 

International affairs were also on the agenda, with Singh calling the conflict in Gaza a genocide, Carney calling for an immediate ceasefire and a resumption of aid, and Poilievre coming out in support of a two-state solution in Israel-Palestine.  

Toward the end of the debate, candidates discussed gun control, crime and the notwithstanding clause. Poilievre said his government would use the notwithstanding clause to enact tough-on-crime policies. “In fact, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms exists to protect Canadians from people like us on the stage, politicians who may use their power to override fundamental rights,” Carney argued, before the four leaders made their final pitch to voters. 

The full debate can be watched on the CBC website. Advance polls begin this week; the final day of voting is April 28.