4 federal leaders fight to woo Quebec voters in fiery French-language debate

Four federal leaders clashed on the environment, the economyand Quebec's place in Canada as they sought to appeal to Quebec votersin the TVAFrench-language debate on Wednesday night.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singhand Bloc Qubcois Leader Yves-Franois Blanchetappeared on TVA, one of Quebec's most widely watched networks and reaches a large audience of francophones outside of Montreal.

The station is also known for its unique debate format, which featuresone-on-one exchangesbetween the leaders that tend to make it particularly confrontational.

The debate started off with a fiery exchange between Blanchet and Scheer, who were asked to defend their positions on abortion. Blanchet said that he is unequivocally against opening up the abortion debateand that anyone in his party who had a differing position would be removed.

Scheer responded by saying he would always vote to support a woman's right to choose but the ambiguity in his answer opened the floor to questions from all three leaders about what he, personally, believed.

Watch: Justin Trudeau presses Andrew Scheer on his views on abortion

Trudeau and Scheer spar on abortion in TVA debate (Courtesy of TVA)

5 years ago

Duration 0:47

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau presses Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer for his personal views on abortion and a woman's right to choose during the TVA French-language leaders debate Wednesday.

The three-against-one dynamic continued into the second part of the debate, when Trudeau and Singh faced off on legislation regarding medically assisted dying.

Singhsaid that he felt the current criteria regarding the right to die are too restrictiveand Trudeau said his government could be open to adjusting those restrictions.

When the floor was opened to all four, Singh asked the leaders to state their positions on a woman's right to choose and medically assisted dying. When Scheer wavered in his answer, Trudeau alluded that there were three leaders being clear in their positionsand one not being direct.

Environment and economy

The leaders also faced tough questions from moderator Pierre Bruneau, who pointedly asked Scheer how he would explain to the 500,000 people who marched in the Montreal climate strike that he plans on being a champion of the oil and gas sector.

Scheerargued that the carbon tax "doesn't work" and that Canada's oil and gas industryhas very high environmental standards.Hestruggled to give a clear answer when asked to defend his position on imposing a pipeline on Quebec.

Blanchet retorted that Scheer believes "the free market and divine intervention" would solve the climate crisis.

Trudeau was also asked how he would respond to Canadians who feel "betrayed" that he purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline. He responded that his government has a better record on the environment thanany other government in Canadian history.

The leaders also clashed on asylum seekers, drug policy, and Quebec's place in Canada.

Trudeau needs to appeal tofrancophone voters outside of Montreal, a demographic whose support he is counting on to offset potential losses in other regions. Trudeau said he is against Bill 21, and hasn't ruled outintervening. He argued his government is committed to defending minority rights, drawing a comparison to francophones outside of Quebec.

Watch: Justin Trudeau, Jagmeet Singh and Yves-Franois Blanchetspar over Bill 21

Trudeau, Singh, Blanchet spar over Bill 21 (Courtesy TVA)

5 years ago

Duration 1:43

Watch a fiery exchange between Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Qubcois Leader Yves-Franois Blanchet on Quebec's Bill 21, the provincial law that prohibits teachers, police officers, judges and other provincial employees from wearing religious symbols at work. (Courtesy TVA) i

Singh went slightly further, calling the bill "discriminatory" and calling on Quebec to not isolate itself. He largely focused his debate efforts on jabbing Scheer, saying a Conservative might cut taxes for some, but would severely slash services.

Blanchetmakes his mark

The debate was especiallyhigh-stakes opportunity for Blanchet, a rookie debater, who is hoping the Bloccan make major gains in this election.

On his home turf, he challenged his counterparts to define Quebec's place in Canada, sending the three leaders scrambling to defend their positions in support of Quebec values.

When Scheer appealed toQuebecers to vote for Conservatives as the only way to get rid of a Trudeau government, Blanchet asked Scheer if that means he's accomplished nothing in the past four years, just becausehe didn't form a government in 2015.

Watch: Scheer tells Blanchetthat Quebecers must elect Conservative MPs to defeat Trudeau

Scheer tells Blanchet Quebec must elect Conservatives (Courtesy of TVA)

5 years ago

Duration 0:52

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer tells BQ Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet only Conservatives can represent Quebec and defeat Trudeau; Blanchet says that means Conservatives have been "useless" for last 4 years, during Wednesday's TVA debate.

In his closing statement, he appealed for voters in Quebec to "vote for women and men who resemble you" and will defend Quebec.

Green Leader Elizabeth May and People's Party Leader Maxime Bernier were not invited to this debate.

Scheer calls Trudeau 'hypocrite' for 2 campaign planes

5 years ago

Duration 1:08

Andrew Scheer calls Justin Trudeau a "complete hypocrite" for having two campaign planes, while Trudeau says unlike the Conservatives, his party bought carbon credits for their planes and buses, following Wednesday's TVA debate.