TRUDEAU ON HOT SEAT
SCHEER TAKES AIM AT LIBERAL LEADER, CALLING HIM ‘A PHONEY AND FRAUD’
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, right, didn’t waste any time going after Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau in the federal leaders’ English-language debate on Monday. Scheer accused Trudeau of being a phoney and a fraud.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer wasted no time in attacking Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau in the only English-language debate to take place during the election campaign.
The night’s most biting exchanges came between the two front-runners, especially when Scheer confronted Trudeau on the SNC-Lavalin affair.
“Mr. Trudeau, you are a phoney and fraud and you do not deserve to govern this country,” said Scheer, in his opening comments, which set the tone for his strategy on the night.
When it came time for Scheer to ask a question of any leader on the stage, he dramatically turned to Trudeau, drawing laughs from the crowd assembled at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que.
“When did you decide that the rules don’t apply to you?” said Scheer, before moving on to Trudeau’s initial denials about the SNC-Lavalin affair. “Those were all lies,” said Scheer.
Later in the debate, Trudeau sought a confrontation with Scheer over his personal views on abortion and gay marriage, but that was the moment the free-flowing, six-person debate devolved into cross-talk. The debate was, at times, incomprehensible as the leaders interrupted each other and jockeyed for camera time.
With just two weeks until election day and polls showing the Liberals and Conservatives locked in a dead heat, Monday’s debate may have been the last big chance for the leaders to make an impression on Canadians.
The Nanos three-day tracking poll showed the Liberals at 34 per cent support and the Conservatives at 33 per cent support, while an Abacus Data poll showed the Liberals at 35 per cent and the Conservatives at 33 per cent. Either way, this is an election battle being fought within the margin of error.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh may have taken a look at those polls and sensed how the debate would turn out because he fired off some of the best lines of the night, usually in reference to the bickering going on between the two front-runners.
“What we have here is Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Scheer arguing about who is worst for Canada,” said Singh, who suggested a discussion about who would be best for Canada instead.
As Trudeau and Scheer argued about their climate change plans Singh broke into the debate, saying “you do not need to choose between Mr. Delay and Mr. Deny.”
And twice in the debate, Singh was mistaken for Scheer, once by Trudeau and another time by moderator Dawna Friesen.
“How does this keep happening? I wore a bright orange turban on purpose today,” said Singh, to laughs from the crowd.
Similarly, Green leader Elizabeth May looked to interject, especially on climate issues and to differentiate her party from Singh’s NDP. At one point, May said Scheer’s proposal to cut foreign aid by a quarter is “the worst idea in your whole non-platform,” referring to the fact that the Conservatives have so far declined to release a full platform.
Aside from Scheer’s attack on Trudeau, the opening of the debate was consumed by Maxime Bernier, the leader of the People’s Party of Canada. The rest of the leaders were encouraged to scuffle with Bernier about controversial comments he has made about immigration in Canada and about teen climate activist Greta Thunberg.
While taking on Bernier, who has called for lower levels of immigration and complained about “climate hysteria,” Trudeau delivered a line the Liberals hope will stick: “Your role on this stage right now seems to be to say publicly what Mr. Scheer believes privately,” he said.
Immediately, the Liberals posted those words on Trudeau’s Twitter account and paid to promote the message on the social media platform.
BQ Leader Yves-François Blanchet took centre stage during a debate about Quebec’s Bill 21, the law forbidding religious symbols in some public service jobs, but struggled to impose himself in other topics.