Canadian election debate: Trudeau came under fierce attack

CANADA's prime minister Justin Trudeau came under fierce attack from his political rivals in Canada’s final election debate last week, reported The Times. 

Despite having a lead of five points when he called the snap election last month to regain the majority he lost in 2019, Trudeau's Liberal Party is now two points behind Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives, and fighting to save his political career after six years in power.

According to the report, Trudeau sustained numerous blows on his record as prime minister, from foreign policy to climate change.

“You had six years and you’ve got the worst [climate] track record in all the G7. How can people trust you?," Jagmeet Singh, the popular leader of the left-wing NDP, was quoted as saying by The Times.

During a segment on reconciliation, Singh said: “You can’t take a knee one day if you’re going to take indigenous kids to court the next. That’s not leadership.”

Conservatives leader, O’Toole, 48, has highlighted the imprisonment of two Canadians — Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — in China in retaliation for the detention by Canada of a Huawei executive.

“Canada’s voice has been absent. We have not fought for the two Michaels. You did not show up for a vote declaring a genocide against the Uighur people. We should be leaders for our values. Our allies are wondering where Canada has gone," he said.

Trudeau, 49, retorted: “If you want to get the Michaels home, you do not simply lob tomatoes across the Pacific.”

He also faced criticism for his decision to call the snap election during a resurgence of the pandemic. Trudeau has insisted that Canadians deserve a choice in their post-Covid future but his opponents have cast the election as a power grab.

On Friday (10), he defended his decision to call the election early and said his main rival would undermine the fight against Covid-19.

Asked whether he regretted the election call, Trudeau told reporters in Hamilton, Ontario: "Absolutely not ... What we see is a very clear contrast between all the different parties on how we need to move forward as a country."

Green Party leader Annamie Paul has said that she doesn't think Mr Trudeau is a real feminist. The chief of the pro-independence Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, criticised Trudeau’s record on human rights, including his sale of arms to Saudi Arabia.

During the debate, Trudeau intensified his attacks on O’Toole as the feisty debate reached its crescendo, painting him as both weak and out of step with most Canadians on guns, vaccine mandates and the environment, The Times report added.