There were a lot of familiar themes in the English language leader’s debate Thursday night in Canada such as climate change and reconciliation.
Right off the top, Green Party leader Annamie Paul challenged Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s claim that he’s a feminist and pointed to the strong women who were pushed out of his caucus such as Jane Philpott and Jody Wilson-Raybould.
Jagmeet Singh was challenged not only by fellow debaters, but the moderator, to actually provide a plan that would address climate change. Singh said several times over the course of the evening that the NDP would end fossil fuel subsidies.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, it was pointed out, would adopt a climate target set by Stephen Harper six years ago which is also lowest of the major parties present at the debate. However, O’Toole acknowledged that the Conservatives had to win back trust on the issue of climate change and says their plans include major investments in small modular reactors (SMRs) and electric vehicles.
O’Toole also noted that Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government had never made a target they’d set for climate change but suggested Trudeau has great ambition which was evidenced by his decision to call an election.
That decision to hold an election was criticized by all other leaders present and very specifically in terms of its timing in reference to Afghanistan. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says it was a bad decision because there are allies on the ground in Afghanistan who may never get out.
The Liberal government’s performance internationally was also panned in reference to the two Michaels. Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have been in a Chinese prison, 1005 days, as of Friday.
Justin Trudeau says they have been doing everything possible to secure the release of the two Canadians. But he says the tools they are using need to be sophisticated, “If you want to get them home you do not lob tomatoes across the ocean.”
Justin Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh had a heated exchange after Singh repeatedly said to the Liberal Leader that he can’t take a knee one day and take kids to court another day. The take a knee referenced back to June when Trudeau knelt at an anti-racism rally in Ottawa. Trudeau denied the inference in the phrase “take Indigenous kids to court” and said evidence of the Liberal government empowering Indigenous communities took place recently in Saskatchewan in the wake of the unmarked graves found in Canada.
“It was a tragedy for all Canadians, one long known by Indigenous people. When I went to Cowessess to speak with Chief Cadmus Delorme, we not only grieved those kids, we signed an agreement, a landmark agreement, to keep kids at risk in their communities, to take them out of the provincial system. That is how we move forward”.
Those present at the debate included: Bloc Quebecois, Yves-Francois Blanchet; Conservative Party, Erin O’Toole; Green Party, Annamie Paul; Liberal Party, Justin Trudeau; NDP, Jagmeet Singh. The Peoples’ party’s Maxime Bernier did not meet the independent debate commission’s criteria for participation. This was the only English language debate of the 2021 federal election.
