Federal election: What we learned from Radio-Canada leader interviews

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OTTAWA — French-speaking Canadians got a first taste of what they can expect in about two weeks, when all political leaders will face off in their first debate on April 16.

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The leaders of the five largest political parties — Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Green party Co-Leader Jonathan Pedneault — were interviewed by Radio-Canada Thursday night for their French election series “Cinq chefs, une élection” (“Five leaders, one election”).

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All the interviews with the leaders were conducted in person, except for Poilievre who did the interview from Whitby, Ont., right after his rally in nearby Oshawa.

The length of the interviews was more or less dependent on the number of MPs elected in the House of Commons when it was dissolved. Carney and Poilievre each took 28 minutes of questions, Blanchet got 21 minutes, Singh 19 minutes and Pedneault, 11 minutes.

Below are some of the highlights of the interviews.

Rare agreement between Poilievre and Singh on Bill 21

As it has often been the case in Quebec for years, leaders were asked to weigh in on the province’s controversial law prohibiting civil servants in positions of authority, like judges, lawyers, police officers and teachers, from wearing religious symbols at work.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has often said in the past he is personally opposed to this law but said Quebec had the right to pass its own legislation.

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Asked to explain further, Poilievre said he accepts the idea of the separation between religion and state but said he thinks individuals should be free to dress as they choose.

Poilievre gave the example of one of the RCMP guards tasked with his protection, who he says wears a Sikh turban.

“He’s ready to save my life. He’s ready to save the life of my children by giving his own. Should I tell him he can’t have a job because he’s wearing a turban? I don’t agree.”

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who also wears a turban as a symbol of his Sikh faith, said that he agreed with Poilievre for a rare moment. “I think it’s the only time,” he added.

“The law is discriminatory and I’m against laws that discriminate against people.”

Carney gives himself 6/10 for his French

Liberal Leader Mark Carney is evidently the least comfortable of all five leaders in French, but he said he is committed to improving his speaking abilities as prime minister.

One of the three hosts, Quebec National Assembly bureau chief Sébastien Bovet, asked Carney how he would evaluate his French on a scale from 1 to 10 — 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. Carney said he was, in his opinion, a six. Bovet then asked which level he is committed to attaining at the end of a four-year term as prime minister.

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Carney said he would commit to getting to a level of eight or nine out of 10.

“I’m far from perfect, but I love the language,” he said. “All the time, I try to have meetings, I can negotiate in French, all that. But it’s obvious I’m not (Victor) Hugo or Racine.”

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet told the network Carney should better master French if he wants to be prime minister for all Canadians, but said he would not rub salt into the wound.

“Quebecers will exercise their own judgment,” he said.

Green party co-leader acknowledges climate not a priority

With the U.S. tariffs sucking most of the air out of the campaign, there is little oxygen left to talk about the fight against climate change, acknowledged Jonathan Pedneault, the face of the Green party’s national campaign in this election.

Pedneault said the current economic climate in which people are struggling to make ends meet is making it difficult for them to focus on the future of the planet.

After years of pressure from the Conservatives, the Liberals have effectively cancelled the consumer carbon tax — which caused the price of gas to fall in provinces where it applied.

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And because of U.S. protectionism, the two main parties are promising to make it easier to build pipelines and other large infrastructure projects to get resources to market. Public opinion is also shifting on the need to become energy self-sufficient — even in Quebec.

Pedneault also said people are finding it difficult finding who is to blame for the climate crisis. He said governments have offloaded the burden of the green transition to individuals whereas big corporations continue to make record profits despite polluting.

“I think it’s normal that people have other priorities right now,” he said, adding that his party is hoping to draw the connection between climate change and cost of living.

Blanchet says voters don’t know much about Carney

A large majority of voters may want Liberal Leader Mark Carney to disclose his business interests before election day, but he is not ready to do that.

When pressed on the nature of his assets, Carney reiterated that he has placed most of them, except for a house and a cottage, in a blind trust. He said that he went above and beyond what the law requires by doing so as soon as he became leader of his party.

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Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said rules don’t seem to apply in the same way to Carney, who rose to prime minister with little or no scrutiny.

“The rules he’s respected do not put him at the same level as me or any of the other politicians who have completely divulged all our holdings and all our assets,” he said.

“We don’t know him, essentially. That’s the problem.”

One thing that voters learned that evening, however, is that Carney does not buy his own groceries.

When veteran host Anne-Marie Dussault asked him if he participates in the boycott of U.S. products at the grocery stores — for instance, American strawberries — Carney said: “As prime minister, I don’t buy strawberries and all that. Someone (else) does it.”

Poilievre pushes back against criticism on his message

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was criticized early in the campaign for not placing more emphasis on U.S. President Donald Trump and the tariffs he is imposing on Canada, and instead fleshing out campaign promises that were focused on the cost of living.

However, the last few days saw Poilievre address Trump and tariffs more head-on.

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Asked by Radio-Canada news anchor Céline Galipeau if that was a mistake on his part, Poilievre pivoted back to talking about single mothers who are struggling to feed their children, of the record number of Canadians at food banks, and of 30-something couples who are struggling to buy a house so they can start a family.

“I’ll never apologize for being the only leader who is offering real solutions to the hurt and the suffering of Canadians after the lost Liberal decade,” he said.

Poilievre also dismissed Danielle Smith’s suggestion that he and Trump are “in sync.”

“That’s not the case,” he said, adding that Trump has said it would be “easier” to deal with a Liberal than with him.

National Post
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