The leaders of Canada’s four major federal parties have been grilled about their response to US President Donald Trump and clashed over energy and housing in their first televised debate of the country’s election campaign.The French-language face-off marked a key moment in the election as it gave leaders a chance to woo voters in the seat-rich province of Quebec. It was also a big test for Liberal leader Mark Carney, who has a slight lead in the polls, but whose French is the weakest among the federal leaders. He at times struggled to articulate his points on stage.There is a second debate in English on Thursday, before Canadians vote on 28 April. On the stage were the four main party candidates: Liberal leader and current Prime Minister Carney, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet, and leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Jagmeet Singh. The debate was moderated by Radio-Canada journalist Patrice Roy. Mr Roy opened the forum saying that Canada’s short 36-day federal election had been “hijacked by Trump”, and asked each leader to outline two campaign promises unrelated to the US or its tariffs.But soon afterwards, Mr Roy plunged into a question on how each party would handle the trade war with the US, calling it the “elephant in the room”. Trump has implemented blanket 25% tariffs on goods from Canada, with an exemption on products covered by the USMCA – a North American free trade deal. Canada is also hit with global US tariffs on steel and aluminium and cars. The president has also publicly mused about Canada becoming the 51st US state. Poilievre, of the opposition Conservatives, accused the governing Liberals of weakening the country over the past decade, making Canada more vulnerable to economic threats.Carney touted his experience as a former central banker for both Canada and the UK, as …
