Good morning. Tonight is the only official English language debate of the federal election campaign, which begins tonight at 7 p.m. ET in Montreal. More on that below, along with the steady rate decision and how to move with pets.
Today’s headlines
- Records show TD Bank closed accounts of a pro-China group and ex-Liberal MP Han Dong
- Ontario introduces a bill to remove provincial trade barriers
- For some prostate cancer patients, a new treatment option offers relief – and hope
Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre listen to New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh during the French-language federal leaders' debate, in Montreal, April 16, 2025.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Election 2025
Let the debate games begin
Leaders squared off in the French-language leaders’ debate over how Canada should respond to U.S. President Donald Trump and how to support the economy during a trade crisis, while reaching for crucial Quebec votes.
Things were getting interesting even before it started. Last night’s debate started two hours earlier than planned to accommodate a pivotal Habs hockey game. Très Canadien. (And for good reason, they clinched a spot in playoffs).
Then, early Wednesday morning, the Leaders’ Debates Commission uninvited the Green Party, because the Greens no longer qualified after intentionally reducing the number of running candidates, falling short of the 309 they needed. This is the first time the Greens have missed a federal leaders’ debate since 2011.
Some commentators are calling this election the most important of a generation. Here are a few questions to help you prep for watching tonight’s final debate before voting day on April 28.
Are debates still important in the age of social media?
Short answer: yes. Aside from being entertaining theatre, it is especially important for underdog parties to speak on a platform they rarely get. And despite how accessible candidates are online, Meta’s ban on news in Canada still prohibits sharing journalism on its platforms.
“You can get a sense of leaders that you have not seen before, especially this is an election where the Prime Minister has been in politics for three months,” Globe political columnist Campbell Clark said on The Decibel podcast.
As political feature writer Shannon Proudfoot points out, there’s something to be said about Canadians collectively watching the debate, particularly before a holiday weekend.
“I think there’s real value for just attention being collectively directed,” she said. “They’re thinking about it. They’re maybe talking about it with family and friends. That seems like a good thing to me, no matter what.”
How do you win a debate?
“I think of them sort of as a microcosm of an election campaign in general, in that there’s a lot of confirmation bias at work,” said Shannon. “I think it tends to just confirm or crystallize what people already believe.”
Canadians are watching for strong talking points and hot comebacks. But what we remember most are the major flubs. This is what lead Campbell and Shannon to the idea that debates can’t be won, but they can be lost.
“There’s a loss aversion problem that comes with debates for political leaders, because it’s not necessarily that they’re going to move the dials, it’s that they could and they could end up getting knocked out,” said Campbell.
What is Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s challenge?
The Conservatives have faced loud criticism during the campaign over a lack of media accessibility, and Poilievre will not be able to control the questions from the debate. A softer side of him has emerged the past weeks, but he will have a delicate line to walk on stage.
“Poilievre, I think, risks that if he turns in the ‘best debate performance’ he can, and wipes the floor with Mark Carney, he actually does himself a disservice because he could come off looking really angry, unserious, attack dog,” Shannon said. “If he goes too hard at it, I think he solidifies his own greatest weakness in the minds of voters.”
What is Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s challenge?
In Campbell’s eyes, one of Carney’s potential downfalls could be that he simply doesn’t have the political stage experience after years in the private sector. After accusations of coming off as patronizing, Carney appears to have improved on that front.
“You don’t want to appear to be too much of, how should I put this, a high-handed elitist who has an Oxford degree. That can come off wrong to the average Canadian in their living room,” Campbell said. “So if he tries to tell people, ‘I know how the world works, and I am an economist,’ you can take that too far.”
What does success look like for the other parties?
It’s hard to deny this has become a two-horse race, even for the NDP.
“For the NDP and the bloc, they have similar goals, which is to show that they are useful, even if they are not government,” said Campbell. “And that’s always the case for the Bloc Québécois, but it’s the case earlier in the campaign for the NDP than it usually is.”
“We’ve seen Jagmeet Singh shift his messaging in the last week or so from ‘I’m running to be Prime Minister’ to ‘okay, I’m not, but you should vote in some NDP MPs to hold some balance of power to kind of keep the Liberals from being an unstoppable juggernaut,’” said Shannon.
Which topics should you watch for?
Earlier this week, CBC/Radio-Canada said the debate will cover topics such as affordability, climate, public safety and security, and of course, tariffs and threats to Canada. TVO host Steve Paikin will question the leaders over the two-hour event.
But patients, medical organizations and physicians say that health can’t take a back seat in the election campaign, writes Kelly Grant. It will be worth watching if leaders weave in
Read more:
- How to watch: The Globe will stream the debate live on our website. You can also watch our stream on our YouTube page.
- Catch up: Here’s what happened yesterday on the campaign trail
- Have a question? Tell us what you want to know about the federal election
- Election day behind bars: Some prisoners to vote in riding where arrest took place
- Who are the people steering the Liberal and Conservative election campaigns?
Check our website tonight at 6 p.m. ET for key moments, live reactions and insights from our reporters and columnists in Montreal and across Canada.
The Shot
‘It’s almost like the spirit activated the flags in a way that I didn’t anticipate.’
Artist and local councillor Ron Kerr mounted the exhibition, known as the Blue Hat Memorial Project, near the Tyee Spit in Campbell River, B.C., on April 15.Chad Hipolito/The Globe and Mail
It took six days for artist Ron Kerr and volunteers to plant 50,000 flags, a vast illustration of the number of Canadians who have died of opioid overdoses in the nine years since B.C. declared it a provincial health crisis.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: A Quebec Superior Court judge bans pro-Palestinian protests on McGill University campus for 10 days.
Abroad: A notorious paramilitary group fighting against the Sudanese military says it is forming a rival government.
At home and abroad: California joins a group of others suing the White House over the use of emergency measures to implement tariffs.
Standing still: The Bank of Canada held interest rates steady at 2.75 per cent to give itself time to assess the fallout from the trade war.
On the move: Moving in together, with pets? Here are three tips for making your blended pet family work.