Debate1

 (Translation services only; I slept through the actual event!!)

source: MSN

author: Jérôme Labbé, Marc-Antoine Ménard

translation: GoogleTranslate/doxa-louise

Another minority government could last only 18 months, says Trudeau

The leader of the Liberal Party, Justin Trudeau, launched a thinly veiled call for the election of a majority government on Thursday evening as part of the 'Face-to-Face' leaders'debate on the TVA network which brought out the disagreements between federal leaders on issues such as health, child care and the environment.

In the event that the September 20 election results in a minority government again, the leaders of the Conservative Party, Erin O'Toole, and the New Democratic Party, Jagmeet Singh, have agreed that political parties should work together ” .

We are supposed to respect the four-year mandates under the law on fixed-date elections , ”also said the leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet. In his closing speech, the Bloc leader asked Quebeckers to 'give him the balance of power '. And the next government, whatever its composition, will have to respect Quebec ” assured Mr. Blanchet.

Justin Trudeau was much less enthusiastic. Because of the differences we have with the Conservatives on vaccination, on daycare centers, on the environment, he said, I think [...] that we might find ourselves in 18 months in another election, if we had a minority government ”.

The leaders of the three main opposition parties in the outgoing Parliament hammered that no, federal elections were not necessary during the present pandemic. And they said it loud and clear to the outgoing Prime Minister in the first segment of the evening.

Why did you call an election right [in the midst of] a fourth wave of the pandemic, with wildfires in British Columbia and the situation on the ground in Afghanistan? Conservative leader Erin O'Toole asked him in the first quarter of an hour of the debate." Our democracy is more robust than you think, ”replied Justin Trudeau.

If you had been in the majority, would you have been in elections [anyway] to obtain a clear mandate to fight the pandemic? ", had previously asked the Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet of the Liberal leader. That's a good question, Mr. Blanchet, ”Mr. Trudeau replied, slightly taken aback.

We were elected for four years, for his part recalled the NDP leader Jagmeet Singh. And there are two years left. "

Health care system

The tone was raised a notch after 30 minutes of exchanges when Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau accused his Conservative opponent, Erin O'Toole, of believing in a two-tier health care system, where the rich can pay to speed up their treatment, to jump ahead in line ”.

Mr. O'Toole replied by pointing out that the PLC had, at the start of the campaign, manipulated a video to confuse Canadians, referring to a controversial tweet from outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland . The Commissioner of Canada Elections has since said that she did not violate  election law .

The Conservative leader added that he was promising to increase health transfers "in a historic manner "once the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

Mr. O'Toole, you say different things in different parts of the country, retorted his Liberal counterpart. You said you wanted the private sector to play a bigger role! "

Challenged several times by Justin Trudeau to reassure Quebeckers "by telling them that he did not believe in a two-tier system and that he did not want more private involvement in the health care system, the Conservative leader ended up saying that this was not the case, repeating that he would "increase transfers to the public system " if he was elected on September 20.

Daycare

The Bloc leader hounded his Conservative opponent on the agreement reached between the federal government and the government of Quebec on the unconditional payment of $ 6 billion for child care centers.

While Erin O'Toole avoided committing to respect the deal, Blanchet vowed to fight any government that called it into question. "And never deliver the goods, ”the Conservative leader told him in reply.

We will help all Quebec families while respecting areas of jurisdiction, ”added Mr. O'Toole, whose party promises to create a tax credit for families instead of a universal system of services. on demandl.

"Mr. Legault himself said: it will create 37,000 places, ”said Justin Trudeau, adding that "low-income families do not pay for daycare in Quebec; the tax credit will not help them ”.

Trudeau attacks O'Toole on  guns

The Liberal leader also engaged agressively his Conservative opponent towards the end of the gun control debate.

Justin Trudeau criticized Erin O'Toole for proposing, on page 96 of his Recovery Plan for Canada, to abolish Bill 71 passed in 2019. Mr. O'Toole proposes to bring assault weapons back to this country ", He asserted, "including the rifle used by Marc Lépine " during the Polytechnique massacre in December 1989.

"This is not true, ”replied his opponent. "We will maintain the ban on assault weapons , ”he repeated.

This reply surprised Mr. Trudeau. We are seeing Mr. O'Toole saying one thing to Quebecers and another thing outside, ”he said, repeating that the Conservative Party's promise does indeed appear in its electoral platform.

Mr. Trudeau himself brags about banning assault weapons in this country, which is partially true. Law 71 prohibits the purchase, sale and use of these weapons; simple possession is tolerated.

Tension between Blanchet and Singh

Another exchange sparked sparks, this time between the leader of the Bloc Québécois and his NDP opponent, who had been more discreet until then.

Called on by Mr. Blanchet to apologize to the Bloc Québécois Alain Therrien for having called him a "racist" in the Commons and to condemn the support of the NDP MP Matthew Green for the controversial professor Amir Attaran , of the University of Ottawa, Mr. Singh stepped up to provide an update on these issues.

"The Ottawa professor had already compared Quebec to northern Alabama ”.

Mr. Singh then got carried away by recalling the motion he tabled in June 2020 to denounce systemic racism in the RCMP that the Bloc's House leader, Alain Therrien, had not wanted to support. So much so that Yves-François Blanchet ended up asking him, in a familiar tone : Can I invite myself to your party ? ".

In his presentation, Mr. Singh explained that he tabled this motion after speaking with families "who have lost their loved ones to police violence ”. Only one party then opposed it, he recalled: the Bloc Québécois. A disrespectful gesture on the part of Mr. Therrien would have taken him off his hinges later and provoked his expulsion from the Commons, said the leader of the NDP.

"Grow a spine!" 

Yves-François Blanchet has once again criticized Justin Trudeau for his government's purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline in Western Canada, when the Liberals say they are able to finance their measures to reduce gas emissions. greenhouse effect and ecological transition with the money drawn from this pipeline. For the Bloc leader, it's like saying I'm going to heal your broken leg by breaking the other, ”he said.

If we manage to transform our energy industry to decarbonize, we are in the right direction, ”replied the Liberal leader, recalling that he also wants to preserve jobs in this transition. I understand that Canadian unity does not interest you , ”he dropped.

Unsurprisingly, the third link (underwater tunnel) between Quebec and Lévis came up, when the host, Pierre Bruneau, reminded the Bloc leader of some of his campaign statements.

The question gave the main interested party the opportunity to reiterate his position on the subject, namely that the third link falls solely under Quebec jurisdiction. He never said he supported the project, repeated Mr. Blanchet. At the most, he mentioned the “ecological potential” of it .

His liberal opponent had his attack ready: Mr. Blanchet, while he was Minister of the Environment in the Marois government, from 2012 to 2014, bypassed the BAPE three times , ”the Office of Public Hearings in the Environment ( BAPE).

This statement, verified by Radio-Canada in 2019 , angered the Bloc leader, who criticized Justin Trudeau and his candidate Steven Guilbeault for repeating it over and over . He asked Justin Trudeau for specific examples while talking to him.

Your record [sic] as Minister of the Environment in Quebec, I did not follow, ”admitted Mr. Trudeau. But the latter said he trusted his deputy and candidate Steven Guilbeault, who also tweeted a few minutes later that Mr. Blanchet had bypassed the BAPE for the reversal of Enbridge line 9B, the McInnis cement plant and the 'oil exploration in Anticosti '.

The leaders had been greeted by environmental protesters and various unions, including outside the studios.