Front-runner Carney faces jabs from all sides at French-language debate | CBC News (2025)

Liberal Leader Mark Carney faced jabs from his opponents at Wednesday's French-language leaders' debate with accusations he's out of touch with working people and won't offer enough change from his unpopular predecessor — charges he denied as hefought back saying he's the best candidate to handle the U.S. threat and a slumping economy.

While Carney came under attack at points, the two-hour contest was a largely polite affair and the former central bankeremerged from the debate relatively unscathed.

The anglophone Liberal leader was thought to be in a tough position given he's less fluent in French than the other leaders, but Carney held his own in Canada's other official language.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Carney was former prime minister Justin Trudeau's "economic adviser" and re-electing the Liberals to a fourth consecutive term would only deliver more of the same. Carney offered advice to the last government during the COVID-19 pandemic and at the end of last year on a part-time basis.

"The problem, Mr. Carney, isyour party has been in power for 10 years.You are just like Justin Trudeau. We need change," Poilievre said.

Carney didn't roll over in the face of these attacks, saying Poilievre is the wrong person at the wrong time with Canada staring down U.S.President Donald Trump and his trade war.

"You're not Justin Trudeau and I'm not Justin Trudeau either, OK?" Carney fired back.

"The question in this election is who is going to succeed in facing Donald Trump. We are in a crisis, the most serious crisis of our lives. We need to react with resounding and overwhelming strength. We need a government ready to act," Carney said, promising to be laser-focused on building the economy in the face of Trump's broadsides, if elected.

Later, Poilievre asked Carney if he was "embarrassed" to ask voters for anotherterm after some perceived Liberal policy failures under Trudeau. He said the economy is poor, crime is up and stringent environmental policies have hamstrung Canada's oil and gas sector while fuelling regional alienation.

Carney said he's his own man and it's unfair to blame him for past problems.

"I've just become leader. I've been prime minister for a month," he said.

WATCH | Carney says he'just became leader':

Carney said in that short time he's cut the carbon tax, worked with the provinces to break down internal trade barriers,negotiated a military partnership with Australia, started more intensivetrade talks with France and the United Kingdom and agreed to sit down with Trump after this election to craft a new bilateral agreement, if elected.

"We've done all of that in this short time — we've done all of that in a month," he said.

Asked at the post-debate news conference if Trudeau was a good prime minister, Carney said his predecessor "made important contributions to this country," saying the last prime ministeradvancedIndigenous reconciliation and equity issues.

"One of the differences — and there are many — is I willput much more of an emphasis onthe economy, arelentless focus on growing the economy to work for everyone," Carney said.

WATCH | Leaders asked if they're still buying American:

Poilievre denied in the debate he's a mini-Trump figure who would kowtow to the president if elected, saying he's ready to sit down with the Americans and try to negotiate a deal right away to bring this ongoing trade disputeto a swift end.

He said the Liberals have made Canada weak and dependent on the U.S.and it's time to turn the page.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he wasn'tbuying it."You would make Canada more like the United States. You would Americanize it," he said.

"We will never be an American state. We will remain sovereign," Poilievre promised.

Poilievresaid a Conservative government would do away with environmental regulations loathed by some companies in the energy andnatural resources sectors and turbocharge oil and gas development to make Canada an energy superpower.

WATCH | Poilievre asked about resistance to pipelines:

Asked if he would push a pipeline through Quebec evenif there wasn't broad support there for such a project, Poilievre said: "There's no social acceptability for the status quo."

Bloc QuébécoisLeader Yves-François Blanchet, a pipeline foe,responded with: "What a hollow phrase. That means nothing. When it rains, it's sunny out. It's nonsense, just absolute nonsense."

Poilievre and Carney also sparred over the issue of immigration — with Poilievre accusing the Liberals of allowing the system to "spiral out of control," with tens of thousands of international students and temporary foreign workers in particular coming in recent years with stricter limits only imposed on those newcomers last fall.

Poilievre said Carney is hearing from "extreme" advisers who want to grow Canada's population to 100 million by the end of the century. Carney addedMark Wiseman, a co-founder of the Century Initiative, which advocates for ambitious population growth, to his Canada-U.S. advisory council.

WATCH | Carney agrees immigration went 'off the rails' post-pandemic:

But Carney tried to distance himself from the past government's handling of the file, agreeing with debate moderator Patrice Roy's contention thatimmigration "went off the rails" in the post-pandemic period.

"The system isn't working," Carneysaid, promising to make the influx more manageable,especially with the health-care system so stretched.

"That's why we need a cap for a period of timeso we can increase our ability to welcome newcomers."

Poilievre promised to block Haitians coming up from the U.S. seeking asylum in Canada as Trump moves to do away with their protected status stateside — an issue in Quebec as many of these French-speaking claimants have tried to settle there.

Carney said Haitians are among the most vulnerable people in the Western Hemisphere butthere are limits to what the country can handle, sayingmost asylum seekers are likely to be turned back to the U.S. given thesafe-third country agreement in place.

WATCH | Blanchet criticizes Carney's time in office:

Singh was chippy throughout and cross-talked with some participants, forcing Roy to cut off his microphone at one point to allow others to speak uninterrupted.

Singh lashed out at Roy, saying he was unfairly silenced because he was trying to talk about health care, an issue that wasn't explicitly on the list of topics to discuss at the debate.

Singh said Quebecers should turn their backs onthe Bloc, claiming a vote for that party is a waste.

"Mr. Blanchet, unfortunately, in the last government you showed you were as useless as the monarchy," Singh said, criticizing the separatists for voting against NDP-backed legislation to enact pharmacare.

Singh also set his sights on Poilievre, saying the Conservatives would make deep cuts to public services to pay for his pricey proposed tax cuts.

He said Poilievre would torpedo health care as part of a drive to find savings to give more money to the wealthy. Poilievre ispitching a sizeable middle-class tax cut. Carney isproposing a similar tax cutbut it's not quite as generous and therefore less costly to the federaltreasury.

Singh said Poilievre can't be trusted to protect programs that help the most vulnerable.

"We want our health-care system to be nothing like the American one," Singh said.

Poilievre denied he wants to make cuts to the things Canadians rely on, saying instead he would curb the government's use of "consultants" and dramatically scale back foreignaid to pay for billions of dollars worth of new promises.

WATCH | Poilievre on funding for Radio-Canada:

He also wants to defund the CBC while keep its French-language arm, Radio-Canada, a policy proposal criticized by the other leaders in the debate as a threat to Canada's cultural sector.

Singh also targeted Carney with another anti-monarchy remark, saying the Liberal leader had time to meet with King Charles during a recent trip to the U.K.but hasn't boosted how much money is available to the unemployed through employment insurance (EI).

And he went after Poilievre for what he called his "hateful" and "disgusting" comments aboutUnited Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), an aid group that helps people in Gaza that the Conservative leader has called a "terrorist organization."

Blanchet meanwhile said Quebecers need to return more of his party's MPs to Parliament to protect the province's interests in Ottawa.

He said Carney is too focused on Ontario, rolling out a $2-billion auto relief programin the face of Trump's threats. He said there wasn't enough in the works to protect Quebec's aluminum industry.

"When it's Ontario, the cheques comeflying," Blanchet said.