Friday, April 18, 2025
 

Federal leaders trade blows over Trump, Trudeau, cost of living at English debate

With polls showing Liberal Leader Mark Carney is the front-runner in this federal election, the other three main party leaders on stage for Thursday's English-language debate spent much of the contest trying to tear him down.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre took aim at Carney early on in the high-stakes debate, saying his government would not be all that different from the one led by his unpopular predecessor, former prime minister Justin Trudeau. He urged voters to make a change.

"Mark Carney is asking for a fourth Liberal term," Poilievre said. "Are you prepared to elect the same Liberal ministers, the same Liberal MPs, the same Liberal staffers?"

Carney took Poilievre on, saying the Conservative leader is trying to paint him as Trudeau 2.0 and it's just not true — he will be laser-focused on the economy and producing results on the issues that matter most to Canadians after years of inaction on some big files.

"You spent years running against Justin Trudeau and the carbon tax and now they're both gone," Carney said. "I'm a very different person from Justin Trudeau."

Carney said Canada is facing the greatest crisis of our lifetimes with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening the country's economy and its very existence and he jumped into politics now because he believes he's best placed to address what he called the "Trump crisis" in this perilous moment.

You can read a full breakdown of the English debate by J.P. Tasker here.
 

Liberal leader Mark Carney, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre debated for a second night in Montreal on Thursday. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press)

Thursday's two-hour affair was the final debate before advance polls open this weekend. Voting day itself is just over a week away.

Green Party co-Leader Jonathan Pedneault was set to take part but was excluded in a last-minute decision by the debates commission.

Here are six key moments and exchanges from Thursday's political parlay — including one that was notable because it didn't happen.

Read more of this story here.

CBC's Poll Tracker

Last Updated: April 17, 2025, at 8:08 a.m.

CBC's Poll Tracker, run by Éric Grenier of TheWrit.ca, has the latest polling numbers in the federal election campaign. You can click on the photo and check out the full website, complete with seat projections and the percentage chances of each party winning the election.

Here's the latest: Though the gap has narrowed somewhat, the Liberals still hold a national lead in the polls that is large enough to make them the favourites to win the most seats — and probably a majority government.

The Conservatives are holding steady with more support than they've had in the last three elections, but it remains not enough as the Liberals are retaining the Bloc Québécois and NDP vote they have picked up since the beginning of the campaign.

Photo of the Day

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, left, and Liberal Leader Mark Carney are seen in a TV camera monitor as they participate in the English-language federal leaders' debate in Montreal on Thursday. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Canada Votes 2025: Answering your questions live

Have a question about Canada’s federal election? Catherine Cullen, host of The House, took your questions on everything from voting to campaign platforms with CBC TikTok producer Ashley Fraser.

What else do you want to know about the federal election? Send an email to ask@cbc.ca.

Listen of the day

Okay, so who met the moment? And who missed the mark? As the election campaign enters its final days, the At Issue panel reacts to the high-stakes English-language debate. 

Host Rosemary Barton and columnists Chantal Hébert, Andrew Coyne and Althia Raj watched live last night and stayed up late so that you could wake up to a fresh cup of hot takes. 

Listen to this episode of At Issue — candid insight from Canada’s top political journalists — right here.