Liberal Party leadership candidates (from left) Karina Gould, Frank Baylis, Chrystia Freeland and Mark Carney prior to the English-language Liberal Leadership debate in Montreal on Feb. 25.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Candidates for Liberal leadership took to the stage Tuesday for the party’s English-language debate, where the four contenders sparred over which of them would be best able to counter U.S. President Donald Trump’s America First agenda.
The two-hour event was the final matchup for the candidates before party members elect a new leader and prime minister on March 9.
Mr. Trump’s agenda has cast a shadow over Canada’s economy, breathing new life into the Liberal Party as Canadians look to see whether presumed front-runner Mark Carney or his three rivals can head off whatever attacks on sovereignty and trade the White House lobs at Ottawa.
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Mr. Carney, whose candidacy has helped close the gap in polls between the Liberals and Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives, introduced himself to a much wider audience than in Monday’s French debate, when he struggled with a language that he is not comfortable speaking.
The Tuesday debate was largely polite and respectful, but Mr. Carney was challenged when he said he would not immediately boost defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP, and for his sharp criticism of the Trudeau government’s economic management.
The former central banker, former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, ex-House leader Karina Gould and former MP Frank Baylis opened the English debate in Montreal by addressing the challenge of the Trump presidency.
Chrystia Freeland gestures as Mark Carney speaks during the English-language Liberal Leadership debate in Montreal on Feb. 25.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
“Canada is facing the most serious crisis in our history,” Mr. Carney said. Ms. Freeland warned: “Trump is the greatest challenge Canada has faced since the Second World War.”
Ms. Freeland said she is the most capable leader to manage the President, boasting about how she negotiated a new North American free-trade agreement in Mr. Trump’s first term. As prime minister, Ms. Freeland promised that if he imposes punishing tariffs, “we’ll hit back.”
“Last time he threatened to tear up NAFTA and he imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum. I fought back and I won.”
Mr. Carney turned the tables on Ms. Freeland, saying the new Trump presidency is far different from his first term. Now he wants to annex the country.
“We have to recognize that the Donald Trump of today is different from the Donald Trump of several years ago. Then his objective was to take more of our market,” he said. “Now he wants to take our country.”
Candidates in the running to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader laid out their plans to connect with Canadians and protect them from Trump threats. (Feb. 26)
The Canadian Press
He said his role as Bank of Canada governor during the global financial crisis demonstrated his ability to manage the Canadian economy in the face of possible across-the-board U.S. tariffs.
“In a situation like this you need experience in terms of crisis management,” he said. “You also need economic experience.”
Mr. Carney said he will offer Canadians a series of tax breaks and other economic measures to diversify and bolster the economy in the face of Mr. Trump’s tariff threats.
Karina Gould looks down at her notes as Frank Baylis speaks during the English-language Liberal Leadership debate in Montreal on Feb. 25.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Ms. Gould and Mr. Baylis described Mr. Trump as a bully and the former House leader took a shot at Mr. Poilievre, saying that he is “our little Trump.”
Tuesday’s debate moved at a faster pace, though all four candidates used in some cases the exact same phrases as Monday.
Different, however, was both Ms. Gould and Ms. Freeland targeting Mr. Carney.
Both took issue with his position on defence spending. Under his leadership, the government would hit the 2-per-cent NATO target by 2030, but the other candidates say they’ll do it faster.
“The time to make those investments is now,” Ms. Gould said in pointing out Mr. Carney’s position. He responded by saying he’ll spend the money on Canadian procurement as fast as possible, calling it a “management thing.”
When her turn came, Ms. Freeland said defence spending is about will and the country should be working with its Nordic partners to protect the Arctic.
“I don’t think any of us wants to be the leader who was asleep at the wheel and didn’t get Canada defended,” she said at a different point.
Mr. Carney was challenged by Ms. Gould and Ms. Freeland when he criticized the Liberal government’s economic performance, saying federal spending was up 9 per cent since 2015 and too many immigrants were allowed into the country, driving up the cost of housing.
He spoke about his campaign pledge for a middle-class tax cut and removal of the GST on new housing as bold measures to revive the economy and create jobs.
Ms. Freeland suggested that Mr. Carney was mimicking Mr. Poilievre’s view that Canada is broken, while Ms. Gould said a middle-class tax cut doesn’t help struggling Canadians who visit food banks.
Ms. Freeland returned again and again to the threat from Mr. Trump, saying he “is the biggest economic menace this country is facing.”
Like Mr. Carney, she wants to cut taxes for the middle class, remove the GST on housing, tear down interprovincial tariffs and require governments to buy from Canadian suppliers, including military hardware.
Candidates were also pressed for their plans to fix the health care system in Canada, including the yawning gap between how many new doctors and nurses graduate each year and what the population needs, and whether existing federal funding for health – which is a provincial responsibility – flows as it should.
Mr. Baylis said a paradigm change is required for the health care system as a whole, and more people need to be trained to provide care, citing pharmacists and nurse practitioners.
Both Ms. Freeland and Mr. Carney said more foreign medical graduates need to be at work in the Canadian system, while Ms. Gould called for more accountability and transparency on how federal dollars are spent.
The contenders did clash over the decisions of Mr. Carney and Ms. Freeland to abandon carbon pricing for consumers, a hot-button issue that the Conservative Leader has combatted effectively over the past year.
“Politics is about people. This had become too divisive,” Mr. Carney said near the end of the debate, while promising to make big polluters pay for emission reductions.
But Ms. Gould countered that it isn’t right to see Liberals alter their commitment to climate action because “Pierre Poilievre is telling us.”
With the debates behind them, the four candidates will now move ahead to get-out-the-vote efforts in the remaining days of the campaign. The Liberal Party said 400,000 people registered to be eligible to vote in the contest.