TRUDEAU ON TV DEBATE: ‘YOU DO NOT SIMPLY LOB TOMATOES ACROSS PACIFIC’

TORONTO: With the September 20 snap polls round the corner, and with surveys projecting dim prospects for Justin Trudeau, the incumbent Canadian prime minister adopted an aggressive posture at a pre-election debate on Thursday.

“You do not simply lob tomatoes across the Pacific,” Trudeau retorted when his rivals on stage charged him with going soft on China; and he spelt out an “F” grade on climate change policy for one of his opponents, Jagmeet Singh of National Democratic Party (NDP).

Trudeau, nevertheless, drew criticism on several fronts from his four rivals at the debate - PM hopeful and main contender Erin O’Toole of the Conservatives, NDP’s Singh, Annamie Paul of the Green Party, and Yves-Francois Blanchet of the Bloc Quebecois. The highly combative debate was televised.

The PM had himself triggered the snap election call in mid-August in a bid to turn the Liberal Party’s minority government into a majority one. But with the Liberal Party leader drawing flak on multiple issues - from calling elections amid the Covid-19 pandemic, to Canada’s handling of airlift operations in Afghanistan, to China policy - pre-poll surveys show he’s trailing O’Toole.

While elected with a majority in 2015, Trudeau’s Liberals are projected to capture fewer seats in parliament this time round than it did in 2019, when it had secured 157.

At the debate, Trudeau’s attacks on Singh were frequent, with the PM singling out the NDP leader for his party’s policy on the climate crisis.

WITH SURVEYS SHOWING DIM PROSPECTS IN THE SEPT 20 POLLS, CANADIAN PM TAKES AGGRESSIVE STAND AGAINST HIS RIVALS IN A TELEVISED EVENT.