Debate shows Trudeau has a tough road ahead of him
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau had one objective during the French-language leaders’ debate Wednesday: to lay out for voters just what they would get with Prime Minister Erin O’Toole.
Although the contrasts on climate change, child care, vaccinations and gun control are clear and Trudeau did land some blows, the debate format — which allowed for few interactions between Trudeau and O’Toole — seemed to take the sting from most of the attacks.
The Liberals and the Conservatives are running neck and neck in most public opinion polls — suggesting either party could form government — but the Grits are concerned many progressive voters expect them to win regardless.
A survey by Abacus Data this week suggested a significant percentage of NDP supporters plan to vote for Jagmeet Singh’s party, but want Justin Trudeau to be prime minister.
Highlighting what’s at stake in this campaign is Trudeau’s biggest challenge. But judging by Wednesday’s performance, the task has yet to be accomplished.
Trudeau has had three weeks to rehearse his answer for why he’s sent Canadians to the polls; during the debate, the best he could do was suggest it was because O’Toole doesn’t want people on planes and trains to be vaccinated.
For a Quebec audience, Trudeau’s best effort was noting that the Conservatives’ plan on child care will do little for families, including those less fortunate, who won’t benefit from the Tories’ tax credit or the 37,000 daycare spots in Quebec that won’t get built without the federal cash the Liberals have promised.
O’Toole had so far refused to say on the campaign trail whether he would uphold the August child care agreement signed by Trudeau and Quebec Premier Yves François Legault, which
gave the province an unconditional $6-billion transfer over five years.
But late Wednesday, just two hours before the start of the debate, the Conservatives finally made clear they wouldn’t uphold the agreement when they released their costed platform and the money was missing.
For those outside Quebec watching the debate unfold, it was only in the last few minutes that Trudeau really unleashed on O’Toole, accusing him of not having the leadership chops required.
He accused the Tory leader of hiding his true intentions when it comes to gun control and of making deals with special interest groups. “Like he’s doing with vaccines, like he does when he says he’s prochoice but 80 of his MPs voted against ... a woman’s choice, he’s doing this on climate by going backways to Stephen Harper (targets),” Trudeau said. “This is weak leadership that he is offering.”
O’Toole shot back. “Mr. Trudeau will say anything to win. I’m pro-choice.”
“He’s a pro-choice leader,” Trudeau responded, “but he can’t get his MPs to follow him. They are not following him on vaccines. He cannot even get his own MPs vaccinated.”
If Trudeau expected he’d have an easy time scoring points over O’Toole’s lack of clarity, he may have underestimated Singh.
After being criticized for sitting on the sidelines during the French-language TVA debate last week, the NDP leader came ready to fight.
He reminded the audience the Liberals had been promising child care for 30 years.
“If Trudeau really wanted to do something, why did he launch an election instead of continuing the work? It’s completely unacceptable, and people can’t believe in Mr. Trudeau,” Singh said.
The NDP’s support has flatlined and the party is worried its supporters will once again
lend the Liberals their vote to avoid a Conservative government.
In his opening remarks, Singh told voters they had two choices in this election: Trudeau or the NDP. Forget the three other party leaders on stage.
But perhaps Singh’s most devastating line of attack was one that has taken a toll on Trudeau over the first three weeks of the campaign: the timing of the election call. “It was a bad decision,” Singh told the audience.
“It was for an egotistical reason. It is not the right thing to do,” he said, referring to the Liberals’ desire for a majority government.
If the Liberals want another mandate, Trudeau must convince voters that the ballot question shouldn’t be a referendum on him — whether voters like him or support this election — but rather on O’Toole and whether they like the policy agenda the Conservatives propose.
Judging by this debate performance, the Liberal leader has more work to do. Lucky for him, there is another debate Thursday.