Carney clashes with chief rival for first time during Canada debate
By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Prime Minister Mark Carney clashed with his chief rival for the first time during Canada’s election campaign on Wednesday, in a French-language debate that could help determine who wins the April 28 vote and then deals with U.S. tariffs.
Polls show the ruling Liberals, who have been in power for 9-1/2 years, are ahead of the official opposition Conservatives led by Pierre Poilievre.
Carney, who served as head of the central banks of both Canada and Britain, says his experience in dealing with crises makes him the best choice to negotiate with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he wants to annex Canada.
“Your party has been in power for 10 years … (its) policies blocked the development of natural resources,” Poilievre told Carney, accusing the Liberals of having weakened the country’s economy and wanting to increase taxes.
“I’ve just arrived and I cut taxes,” Carney responded. Days after becoming prime minister last month, Carney scrapped an unpopular carbon tax that the Conservatives had long promised to abolish.
The exchange was the first between the two men since Carney was elected Liberal leader in March.
Poilievre says the Conservatives are best placed to tackle challenges such as the high cost of living and a housing crisis. Those issues dominated domestic politics until this year, when Trump threatened annexation and imposed tariffs, and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he was stepping down.
The debate is taking place in Montreal, the largest city in predominantly French-speaking Quebec. The province has 78 of the 343 seats in the House of Commons and is usually regarded as one of the keys to victory.
Carney admits his French is imperfect and has on occasion struggled during the campaign.
Quebec has a history of political volatility, which is in part linked to the fortunes of the separatist Bloc Québécois, a party that wants independence for the province.
Organizers moved the debate forward by two hours to avoid clashing with a critical Montreal Canadiens game.
The Bloc won 54 seats in the 2004 election, slumped to just four in 2011 and rebounded to 32 in 2019 and 2021.
Polls show some Bloc voters intend to vote Liberal because they see Carney as the best choice of prime minister to deal with Trump.
Leaders of the four main parties will hold an English-language debate on Thursday. The other party taking part is the left-leaning New Democratic Party.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Rod Nickel)
