LEADERS DEBATE FOES TAKE AIM AT TRUDEAU
OTTAWA • Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau was under heavy fire early in Thursday night’s leaders debate, with Green Party Leader Annamie Paul hammering him as not a “real feminist,” and Conservative Leader Erin O’toole accusing him of putting his own political fortunes ahead of the wellbeing of Canada’s Afghan allies.
The first direct exchange of the debate, on the topic of how the government has handled sexual misconduct problems in the military, was a heated one between Trudeau and Paul.
“I have said before and I’ll say it again tonight that I do not believe that Mr. Trudeau is a real feminist,” said Paul, the only female leader on the stage. “A feminist doesn’t continue to push strong women out of his party when they are just seeking to serve, and I will say their names tonight and thank them: Thank you Jane Philpott, thank you, Jody Wilson-raybould, thank you Celina Caesar-chavannes. I’m here tonight thanks to the work that you have done.”
Trudeau immediately fired back at Paul, who has spent the past few months in a fierce internal fight with her own party and even saw one of her party’s three MPS, Jenica Atwin, defect to the Liberals.
“I won’t take lessons on caucus management from you,” Trudeau responded.
Shortly afterward, during a question of how Canada managed — or failed to manage — the evacuation of its Afghan allies after the Taliban took over, O’toole attacked Trudeau for calling an election despite the crisis.
“You put your own political interests ahead of the well being of thousands of people,” O’toole said. “You should not have called this election, you should have gotten the job done in Afghanistan.”
Trudeau defended the government’s work in Afghanistan, then hit back at O’toole when the topic of climate change came up a few questions later.
“Mr. O’toole can’t even convince his party that climate change is real because they voted against that,” Trudeau said, referring to the recent Conservative policy convention. “And that’s perhaps why his plan is so weak. His plan is to go back to the Harper targets, to the Harper approach on fighting climate change, which doesn’t work.”
O’toole argued that his party has put forward a serious environmental plan that includes a price on carbon exactly because they have to “restore some trust on this issue” with Canadians.
“Climate change is a real threat, not only to Canada but to the world,” O’toole said at another point.
The English-language debate on Thursday night followed two earlier debates in French, and will be the last time before election night that the party leaders share the same stage.
It also comes as the Liberals and Conservatives are in a dead heat in national polls, while the New Democrats, Bloc Québécois, Green Party and People’s Party of Canada jockey for the remaining vote share.
A Postmedia-leger poll published Wednesday found the Conservatives and Liberals both scored 33 per cent among decided voters. The NDP followed at 21 per cent, the Bloc at 6 per cent (27 per cent in Quebec), and the Greens and the People’s Party each had 3 per cent.
O’toole’s campaign received a boost following Wednesday’s French debate after Quebec Premier François Legault lambasted the Liberal, NDP and Green platforms for being “dangerous” for the province’s autonomy, but praised the Conservative leader’s willingness to give more power to the province.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh got in his shots at Trudeau later in the debate, arguing Trudeau has failed to live up to his rhetoric when it comes to actually reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“You had six years and you’ve got the worst track record in all the G7,” Singh argued. “How can I trust you?”
Trudeau fired back that it’s false to say his government has missed its climate targets.
Bloc Leader Yves-françois Blanchet, meanwhile, was on the defensive immediately in the debate after moderator Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, challenged him to justify “discriminatory” laws such as Quebec’s Bill 21.
“The question seems to imply the answer you want,” Blanchet said. “Those laws are not about discrimination, they are about the values of Quebec.”
People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier did not meet the independent debate commission’s criteria for participation.
In deference to Canada’s western time zones, the debate didn’t start until 9 p.m. Eastern. It was scheduled to include segments on five themes: affordability, climate, COVID recovery, leadership and accountability, and reconciliation.
YOU SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN THE JOB DONE IN AFGHANISTAN.