7 notable moments from the French leaders' debate
Topics included Trump, the environment, pipelines and even strawberries
Four federal leaders squared off in the first of two debates Wednesday night in Montreal, covering a range of topics including the U.S. trade war, housing, the environment and even strawberries.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh all took part in the French-language debate. Green Party co-Leader Jonathan Pedneault was set to take part but was excluded in a last-minute decision by the debates commission.
Here are seven key moments and exchanges from Wednesday's political parlay.
Blanchet takes early jab at Carney
Carney was expected to be the main target during the debate, given his Liberals have been holding a steady lead in the polls.
Blanchet took a swipe at Carney fairly early on during the first discussion about U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war.
After Carney made his pitch about why he would be the best to negotiate with Trump, Blanchet said the Liberal leader — who has previously not held elected office — had little political experience.
"You say you're a negotiator — perhaps with tax havens — but when it comes to trade agreements I haven't seen the proof," Blanchet shot at Carney in reference to his previous role at Brookfield Asset Management.
Carney rebutted by saying that in his short time as prime minister he had reached an agreement with the premiers to start lifting interprovincial trade barriers.
Bloc and NDP argue for minority government
With the Bloc and NDP trailing in the polls, both Singh and Blanchet are asking voters to elect more of their candidates to be able to leverage the governing party.
At one point, Blanchet was making his case for a minority government with several Bloc MPs so that Quebec interests are "taken into account."
But Singh argued that his party had been more productive during the last four years, touting the policies the NDP put forward during its supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals.
"Unfortunately, in the last minority government you showed that you were as useless as the monarchy is," Singh lobbed at the Bloc leader.
Singh later made another case to elect New Democrat MPs when he pointedly asked Carney about subsidies for oil and gas companies.
"Would you agree to stop these subsidies?" Singh asked.
Carney said he would, which led to Singh claiming a win.
"This is why you need New Democrats. Look at that, we got a commitment from Mr. Carney," he said.
But Carney quickly disagreed and said his position on subsidies wasn't new.
Poilievre criticizes Carney on housing, Singh says Conservatives no better
At various points in the debate, Poilievre pushed one of his main campaign messages: that the country shouldn't elect another Liberal government and that Carney doesn't represent enough change from the government of former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
During a conversation on the cost of living, Poilievre criticized Carney and the Liberal track record on housing.
"You are making the same promises that Justin Trudeau has been making for 10 years," Poilievre said. He accused the Liberals of wanting to "build bureaucracy" instead of housing.
Singh jumped in to target Poilievre's record when he briefly managed the housing file in Stephen Harper's cabinet. Singh asked how many homes were built during that time, which led to a heated exchange between the two.
"I'll tell you, six. You built six homes," Singh said while Poilievre tried to respond.
Poilievre pushed back at Singh for not letting him answer the question and insisted that 200,000 homes were built during his ministerial tenure.
Both figures aren't entirely accurate. Singh's claim that Poilievre only built six homes as housing minister refers only to non-profit community housing units built exclusively by the government in 2015. When you include non-profit housing built by others with federal government help, it's more like 3,742 houses.
But it's hard for Poilievre to take responsibility for the 200,000 homes he says were built when he was minister. In the 2015-16 fiscal year, 194,461 homes were built in Canada in total, including by private developers.
After the exchange between Singh and Poilievre, Carney fired back at the Conservative housing plan, saying Poilievre's approach to housing was "everyone for themselves."
Poilievre and Blanchet duel on pipelines
Poilievre and Blanchet also had a fairly heated exchange when the conversation turned to the environment and pipeline projects.
Moderator Patrice Roy asked Poilievre if he would "impose" a project if Indigenous groups or provinces didn't want them in their jurisdictions.
Poilievre didn't give a direct answer but said there is "no social licence for the status quo."
"That is the most empty sentence I've ever heard," Blanchet cut in. "It's nonsense, just absolute nonsense."
Poilievre countered by saying Canada needs to stop relying on the U.S. market when it comes to oil exports.
"You say you're in favour of sovereignty. I'm in favour of economic sovereignty and energy sovereignty and that requires a pipeline across Canada," Poilievre said.
After a further exchange about the cost of such a project, Roy again asked Poilievre what he would do if some jurisdictions were not in favour of the project. The Conservative leader suggested there would be those in favour of a pipeline and that it should be "majority rules."
Poilievre, Singh debate aid to Gaza
The conversation turned to international aid about three-quarters of the way through the two-hour debate.
Poilievre has promised to cut aid and was asked to specify where he would make those cuts.
The Conservative leader said he would stop funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and accused the organization of taking part in the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023.
Nine staff members were removed from the team after a UN investigation found they may have been involved. UNRWA had about about 13,000 employees in Gaza.
"The aid we give should be directly to people in need and not through bureaucracies and terrorists," Poilievre said.
Singh agreed that issues with UNRWA needed to be investigated, but called Poilievre's comments "disgusting."
"This is the only organization that is helping out people on the ground and you painted the entire organization with the same brush, calling it a terrorist organization. That is unacceptable, that is hateful and it is entirely inappropriate," Singh said.
Humanitarian organizations have raised numerous concerns about Israel blocking aid into Gaza, including in recent weeks.
What is the price tag?
Roy repeatedly pointed out that none of the four leaders have released a costed platform.
Thousands of Canadians have already voted, advance polling starts this weekend and election day is just over a week away.
"We don't know how you're going to pay for [your promises]," Roy said. "Don't you think it's irresponsible to Canadian voters to do this?"
In response, Poilievre and Carney said they would have a costed plan out in the coming days, while Singh accused both the Liberal and Conservative leaders of planning to cut services.
The Bloc has put out a platform, but it doesn't include a spending tally because the party doesn't expect to form government.
'Delicious conversation'
Near the end of the conversation about the U.S. trade war, Roy asked the leaders what U.S. products they have stopped buying in order to support Canadian industry.
Blanchet was the first to answer, saying he has been buying Quebec strawberries. The Bloc leader added that he "does his own shopping," in a dig at how Carney handled a similar question during an interview with Radio-Canada earlier this month.
Carney was asked if he no longer buys American strawberries during that interview. After an awkward pause, he said he had a strange answer: As prime minister, he no longer buys his own food.
That's not unusual for prime ministers — one, for security reasons, and two, because living in an official residence comes with a chef. And a whole slew of staff.
Carney seemed more prepared for the question on Wednesday, saying he no longer buys American wine.
Singh's response focused on produce. He also listed strawberries but mentioned apples as well.
Poilievre, the last to respond, said "this is a delicious conversation," which sparked a chuckle from everyone. The Conservative leader said he has focused on buying Canadian beef.
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With files from David Michael Lamb