Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet speaks during a federal election campaign stop in Montreal, on April 15.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
Five federal party leaders are set for two nights of debates in the penultimate week of an election billed by some as the most important of a generation, a choice of who should guide Canada through a trade war and broader geopolitical upheaval created by U.S. President Donald Trump.
But first, they will make way for a hockey game: Wednesday’s French-language debate will start two hours earlier than planned to accommodate a pivotal Montreal Canadiens game that could mean the team is in the playoffs.
Both the Bloc Québécois and NDP had suggested the change. The two-hour debate will now start at 6 p.m. ET.
“We’re asking people – especially in Quebec – to choose between a critical democratic debate and cheering on the Habs in a must-win game,” NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a statement earlier Tuesday. “This kind of political discussion shouldn’t compete with something that means so much to so many.”
The high interest in how leaders of the Liberal, Conservative, New Democratic, Bloc and Green parties will joust and juxtapose their positions was already evident in the broadcast plan: The debates will be available in 15 languages (including English and French), by broadcasters across Canada and also by networks in the U.S., England and France.
Polls suggest Mr. Carney is the clear front-runner for the April 28 election, meaning the stakes are highest for him, said Laura D’Angelo, vice-president, national strategy and public affairs at Enterprise Canada.
But, she added, the debates could also present a pivotal moment for the Bloc and NDP.
“Debates often benefit the underdogs and the parties like the NDP and Bloc, who normally don’t get a ton of airtime,” she said in an interview, pointing out that the drop in their support has been to the clear benefit of Mr. Carney’s Liberals.
“They actually stand to gain a lot this debate.”
Mr. Carney became Liberal Leader only last month. Wednesday’s debate is his first outing on a national stage where he’ll be directly contrasted with his rivals: the Conservatives’ Pierre Poilievre, the Bloc’s Yves-François Blanchet, Mr. Singh and Green co-leader Jonathan Pedneault, also making his national debut.
Neither he nor Mr. Carney have served as MPs and been tested in the House of Commons. Mr. Poilievre cut his teeth in Parliament, honing his rhetorical skills over his two decades as an MP on both the opposition and government benches. Mr. Blanchet has been the Bloc leader since 2019 and was a provincial politician for years before going to Ottawa. Mr. Singh became party leader in 2017, was elected an MP in 2019, and before that was also a provincial politician. All of those three will draw on those experiences, with both Mr. Blanchet and Mr. Singh also having done national election debates before.
Mr. Poilievre will be looking to hit a sweet spot, said Laura Kurkimaki, a vice-president at McMillan Vantage.
“He’ll be balancing litigating the government’s failures over the last 10 years with also looking prime ministerial and looking ready to govern in only a few short weeks,” she said.
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Wednesday is the third high-profile test of the leaders’ French skills, with Mr. Carney’s perceived to be the weakest among them.
Earlier in the campaign, the five leaders appeared in back-to-back interviews on Radio-Canada’s Cinq chefs, une élection program, and on Sunday evening, Mr. Poilievre and Mr. Carney appeared back-to-back on Tout le monde en parle, a popular and freewheeling weekly talk show also on Radio-Canada. Both were gaffe-free for the leaders, though during the Liberal leadership debate Mr. Carney’s French was under evident strain.
Mr. Carney, Mr. Poilievre and Mr. Singh have campaigned in Quebec this week, mixing up policy announcements with hours of debate preparation.
Neither the Liberals nor Conservatives have released fully costed platforms to underpin the arguments they’ll make during the debates. On Friday, advance voting begins, a crucial period where parties seek to lock in support.
The debates are organized by themes. In French: cost of living, energy and climate, the trade war, identity and sovereignty, and immigration and foreign affairs. In English: cost of living, energy and climate, leading in a crisis, public safety and security, and tariffs and threats to Canada.
Though Mr. Trump’s trade war is the backdrop to the election, it’s not necessarily the dominant issue for all voters, Ms. Kurkimaki said.
The debates will offer those with specific interests to evaluate what the leaders present, whether they tune into the full two-hour event, just pieces of it or are just watching clips later on social media, she said.
The interplay between leaders will also be important, Ms. D’Angelo said.
“I think Canadians should be watching for how the leaders respond to each other and in this environment, what do they want those responses, not to be in words, but in tone and in posture and in camaraderie and interpersonal kind of skills,” she said.
“I think Canadians should watch for how do you want your leaders to present themselves on a national and international stage?”
With a report from Bill Curry