Five takeaways from Canada party leaders’ big TV debate

The leaders of Canada’s four major federal parties have squared off in their second and final debate ahead of this month’s general election.

But it was someone off stage who stole much of the spotlight – US President Donald Trump.

A big question heading into the two-hour forum was whether Liberal leader Mark Carney, who has been leading in the polls, would stumble.

Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, managed to survive Wednesday’s French debate despite being less proficient in the country’s second-most spoken language.

On Thursday, he found himself placed on the spot repeatedly by his three opponents: Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Québécois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet.

How to respond to Canada’s ongoing trade war with the US was a theme, but the debate also saw clashes on affordability, crime and the environment.

Here are five big takeaways from Thursday’s primetime showdown:

Carney’s opponents were quick to focus on the mistakes of his unpopular predecessor, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Conservative leader Poilievre made references to the “lost Liberal decade”, talking about the last 10 years when the Liberal party has been in power. He cited issues like housing affordability and the high cost of living to drive his point home.

“How can we possibly believe that you are any different?” Poilievre asked Carney.

Blanchet also threw down the gauntlet to Carney. “You claim you are different – you need to prove you are better.”

Carney was forced to defend himself multiple times, noting that he has only been in the prime minister’s chair for one month despite sharing the same party banner as Trudeau.

“I am a very different person than Justin Trudeau,” Carney said.

The leaders were asked about how they would negotiate with Trump and respond to his tariffs on Canada.

The US president has implemented blanket 25% tariffs on goods from Canada, with an exemption on products covered by the USMCA – a North American free trade deal. Canada is also hit with global US tariffs on steel and aluminium and cars.

The president has also publicly spoken about Canada becoming the 51st US state.

Canada’s government has previously said its position is to implement “dollar-for-dollar” tariffs with the aim of inflicting maximum pain on the US economy.

But during the debate, the leaders appeared to concede it is ultimately not an equal fight.

“We’ve moved on from dollar-for-dollar tariffs,” Carney said, acknowledging that the US economy is more than 10 times the size of Canada’s.

The Liberal leader said the focus would shift to targeted tariffs designed to maximise pain on the US and hurt Canada as little as possible.

Trump appears to have softened his language on Canada in recent weeks. After a phone call with the US president in late March, Carney said Trump “respected Canada’s sovereignty” and that their conversation was “constructive”.

Canada and the US are expected to start talks on trade and security after the 28 April election.

For Canadians tuned in to issues facing the country beyond Trump and his tariffs, the debate offered substantive policy discussions on topics from housing to crime to immigration.

It was clear that Canadians have starkly different choices before them.

Poilievre frequently championed his vision of a small government that would keep taxes low to drive up economic growth and affordability for Canadians, and that would be tough on crime.

Singh, meanwhile, pushed for stronger social programmes in Canada, including expanding the country’s national dental care and pharmacare programmes and other healthcare spending.

Carney stuck close to the centrist point of view of his party.

“Government can play a role, but its role has to be catalytic,” he said during a segment on strong leadership in a crisis.

Canada’s political system, similar to that of the UK, has several political parties – the centrist Liberals, the right-leaning Conservatives, the left-leaning New Democrats, and the Bloc, which only runs candidates in Quebec.

There is also the Green Party, which was disqualified at the last minute from the debate for not running enough candidates.

But polls suggest that in this election, the bulk of Canadians are opting to support either the Conservatives or the Liberals.

This has left the third-place parties fighting for survival. National polls have Singh’s New Democrats polling at 8.5% – which could roughly translate to just five seats out of 343, a major loss from their current 24 seats.

Singh pushed to make his voice heard, repeatedly interrupting both Poilievre and Carney in a bid to set his party apart as the choice for left-wing voters.

“You can’t entrust all the power to Mr Carney,” Singh remarked.

Meanwhile, Bloc leader Blanchet inserted issues relevant to the French-speaking province at every opportunity.

His party, too, stands to lose at least a dozen seats in Quebec, according to current polling.

Despite the frequent crosstalk, the tone overall was rather cordial.

The general sense of decorum was apparent when the leaders were discussing the housing crisis. In a rebuttal to Poilievre, Carney appeared to stop himself before laying into his opponent.

“A misunderstanding… ,” Carney said as he paused mid-sentence, adding: “I’ll be polite.”

Even after some heated exchanges, Carney and Poilievre were filmed shaking hands and laughing afterwards.

Not only was it strikingly different to some recent presidential debate cycles in the US, it was even friendlier than some past Canadian federal debates.