Opposition leaders grill aggressive Trudeau
Stakes high in first French debate
OTTAWA • Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau came out swinging against the Conservative, New Democrat and Bloc Québécois leaders, who criticized his decision to plunge Canada into an election and attacked him whenever possible during two hours of the first “decisive” debate in French.
The debate, organized by Quebecor-owned TV network TVA, was the first of three hosting Trudeau, Conservative Leader Erin O’toole, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-françois Blanchet in this election. There were three themes for the evening: the pandemic, social issues, and the “Canada of tomorrow.”
The stakes were high for each leader, as a Leger-le Journal-tva poll focused on Quebec voting intentions published Thursday morning shows that the chances of a run-off Liberal win in a majority of the province’s ridings is increasingly unlikely as many ridings turn into three-way races between Conservatives, Liberals and the Bloc.
During the debate, Trudeau was grilled by opposition members and even debate moderator Pierre Bruneau regarding his decision to launch Canada into an “unnecessary” election during the COVID-19 pandemic. O’toole said it was “not the time for an election”, whereas Singh noted that the timing was “futile.”
Trudeau’s main line of defence, which convinced none of the three other leaders, was that 80 per cent of people did the “right thing” and got vaccinated, so should we “stop democracy" for the minority 20 per cent of people that aren’t vaccinated?
In response, Blanchet referred to his own experience as a provincial minister in the Parti Québécois minority government that called an election in 2014 in the hopes of winning a majority. The election ended up being catastrophic for the PQ (the provincial Liberals won a majority) and Blanchet.
“I played a role in the 'we need a majority’ movie in 2014,” Blanchet said. “It was a suspension in my political career.”
The relationship between provincial and federal governments also led to heated debates, particularly when it came to imposing new norms in long-term care homes, federal health transfers and subsidized day care.
Blanchet criticized Trudeau and all other leaders who wanted to impose federal quality norms on Quebec’s long-term care system, while Trudeau and Singh expressed their support for the idea.
The Conservative leader also faced multiple questions on his promise to scrap the Liberal’s bilateral deals with most provinces to fund daycare programs, including a $6 billion transfer to Quebec (which already has its own subsidized daycare system), in exchange for tax credits on daycare costs directly to parents.
“You will not create new daycare spots, Mr. O’toole,” Trudeau said.
“Our plan will help all families,” O’toole insisted.
From minute one, Trudeau came out aggressively against all leaders, firing salvos at his opponents at most opportunities and regularly talking over them during one-on-one discussions.
“I don’t think Trudeau has ever been this full of piss and vinegar at a Leaders Debate. Not in ‘15. Not in ‘19. He’s always faster-paced in French. But he’s got a bolt of lightning up his ass tonight. I like the scrappiness. But I lack the French to know how it comes off,” tweeted Scott Reid, once an adviser to former Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin.
The tactic was particularly effective against O’toole and Singh in the first half of the debate. The fact they are not as fluent in French forced them to stick closer to prepared lines before they got more comfortable with the exchanges.
A strong moment of the debate came between Blanchet and Singh on the topic of systemic racism in Quebec. Blanchet repeatedly demanded the NDP leader apologize for previous statements by himself and some of his candidates that he says are “Quebec bashing” and paint the province as racist.
Singh instead rebuffed the Bloc leader, saying that he
denounces all forms of “Quebec bashing” all the while acknowledging that “Quebecers and francophones have faced systemic discrimination in the past.”
“What he is doing is desperate,” Singh added about Blanchet, also quieting the Bloc leader every time he tried to interrupt him in what became Singh’s strongest showing of the evening.
Trudeau later faced questions on his management of the sexual misconduct crisis in the Canadian Armed Forces.
The Conservative leader accused his government of ignoring evidence related to alleged misconduct by former Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance, whereas Trudeau argued that everyone had followed proper procedure and that politicians should not get involved in independent processes.
Then came the environment, where Trudeau was criticized for his government’s decision to purchase the Trans Mountain pipeline all the while trying to move Canada away from fossil fuels.
Very little time was spent discussing climate change and Indigenous issues during the debate, a fact that was lamented by many observers and experts on social media.