Carney, Poilievre to meet face-to-face as party leaders square off in first debate

OTTAWA — Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s French language skills will be put to the test, and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will seek to turn his numbers around, when the five main federal party leaders square off in Montreal tonight in the first of two debates ahead of election day on April 28.

The two-hour French-language debate will be moderated by Radio-Canada’s Patrice Roy and will focus on five themes: the cost of living, energy and climate, the trade war, identity and sovereignty, and immigration and foreign affairs.

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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet are the only two leaders with previous federal debate experience, though Carney and Poilievre participated in their respective parties’ leadership races.

“Carney has to do a decent job. He doesn’t have to win it, he doesn’t have to have all the great sound bites,” said Barry McLaughlin, who worked on former NDP leader Jack Layton’s federal debate team and coached former prime minister Kim Campbell for her leadership debate.

“But he’s got to be seen as reasonable and able to handle the debate in the French language. That’s really the bar of the next prime minister of Canada.”

Carney struggled at times during the Liberal leadership race’s French debate and was saved by opponent Chrystia Freeland when he tripped up while discussing Hamas.

But recent polls have suggested Carney’s Liberals are enjoying at least 40 per cent support in Quebec.

“Now that people have been exposed to (Carney’s) French, it’s been criticized a lot, but it has not really affected voters that much, at least their opinion,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University.

“And I think that’s related to the fact that the focus of the campaign isn’t really about culture, language or Quebec, or even the federalism. It’s about who can stand up to (U.S. President) Donald Trump and who can fight for our economy. In that context, I don’t think that language is that relevant to many voters, including francophone voters.”

Both McLaughlin and Béland said that Poilievre’s goal should be to present a softer, more refined image to appeal to voters beyond his base.

“The thing that I think there’s a discomfort level is, what is he like as a person? What are his true motives? Is he somebody, proverbially, that you’d like to have a beer with?” McLaughlin said, noting he took the same approach with Layton in the 2011 debate before a historic win for the NDP.

“Right now it doesn’t look like he is that person. But the debate can be a really important impression-forming opportunity for him.”

And while the Conservatives have struggled to make gains in Quebec, Béland said Poilievre displayed some poise last weekend while appearing on the popular Quebec talk show Tout le monde en parle.

“Poilievre was not only the attack-dog opposition leader, but someone who can be just a bit chill, more relaxed, not so aggressive,” Béland said.

“But I don’t know if at this point it might be too little, too late in that sense to soften his image. But I still think he can score points.”

Health care is not on the list of topics up for debate. A recent poll by Abacus Data suggests health care is one of the top issues voters want to see discussed at the debates.

While campaigning on Monday, Singh said he would bring up his health care promises throughout the two debates.

The debate originally was scheduled for 8 p.m. ET but was moved two hours earlier. Both the Bloc and the NDP had called for the start time to be changed because the Montreal Canadiens play the Carolina Hurricanes Wednesday night.

In 2021, there were two French-language debates — one arranged by the Leaders’ Debates Commission and one hosted by TVA. Combined, both debates drew 6.8 million viewers.

Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault will take part in tonight’s debate, even though the party will not be fielding a full slate of candidates in the election.

In order to participate in the debates, parties must meet two of three conditions. They must have had one seat in the House of Commons, have at least four per cent national support 28 days before the election, or have endorsed candidates in at least 90 per cent of ridings 28 days before the election.

By the deadline set by the Leaders’ Debate Commission, the Green Party was polling at less than three per cent, and while it included a full list of candidate endorsements by the deadline, the party only has 232 candidates running.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2025.

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press