On Wednesday night in Ottawa, three of the five Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidates took part in the third and final official debate of the 2022 race.
Candidates Scott Aitchison, Roman Baber and Jean Charest delved into some of the campaign’s top issues.
The half-English, half-French debate saw the trio discuss leadership, grassroots issues, transport, climate change, affordability, rural issues and health.
Candidates Pierre Poilievre and Leslyn Lewis chose to skip the debate, instead spending the night with supporters, subsequently facing a $50,000 fine.
Here are the main takeaways from tonight’s discussion.
THREE CANDIDATES, ONE BIG BLUE TABLE
The decision to hold a third debate in the 2022 race came months after the official English-language debate on May 11 in Edmonton, Alta., and the French-language debate in Laval, Que. on May 25. The format of the third debate differed significantly from previous events, resulting in a round table discussion rather than a fiery confrontation.
The potential for a third showdown was left open by the party when it announced the original debates, but the decision to go ahead with a third, just weeks before all ballots were to be cast, was strongly opposed by Poilievre and Lewis, who ultimately decided not to attend.
As a result, the party changed plans and the event became a more low-key affair.
Instead of standing behind podiums in a room with a sizeable audience, as they did in other formal debates, the three men and the moderator sat in a cramped studio in an industrial park located 12 kilometers from Parliament Hill.
The candidates and Conservative Party president Rob Batterson – who acted as the evening’s moderator – were seated on low stools around one side of a round dining-room-sized table adorned with a Conservative blue tablecloth.
According to the pool room reporter, before the debate began, a candidate knocked over a lamp trying to get to the table, and Charest remarked that the setup was “weird,” saying he had “never seen anything like it.”
MUCH IS TALKED ABOUT TRUDO
There was some expectation at the start of the debate that the absent candidates — Louis and Poillievre — would be key topics of conversation throughout the night, but all the candidates were named Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
While there were a few jabs at those who didn’t participate, with Charest saying candidates should account to party members and answer their questions, those at the table seemed focused less on their opponents and more on making the most of the night , to present themselves, as the party hoped, as the best alternative to the current Liberal government.
“Nothing is being done. Yet we pay taxes for all of this, and one would think they would get their act together,” Charest said of Trudeau. “And there is an urgent change of governments, Canadians want change and look to us as Conservatives as an alternative.” And that is the purpose of this competition, to offer an alternative.”
“Our response to Justin Trudeau’s divisive politics cannot be more divisive,” Aitchison said. “We must lead with respect. We need to offer real solutions to the challenges Canadians face every day and create a government that actually gets results. We cannot be the party that simply opposes government when we need to be the party that offers better government that actually respects taxpayers’ money and gets results. We, too, must unite as conservatives.”
As they took turns laying out their policy ideas, the candidates also highlighted what they see as a number of Liberal failures, from not ending all drinking water advisories in First Nations communities to the current travel woes Canadians face at airports and at passport and immigration offices.
BIG FOCUS ON PARTY UNITY
Another major highlight of the evening was party unity. After months of clashes between the candidates, attacking each other over their policies, achievements and views on events such as the convoy protests, the three contestants took pains to stress the need for the party to come together once the winner is decided next month.
Baber said he never wanted to win an election again, suggesting the future of the country was at stake.
“I want you to imagine a scenario: It’s the day after the election and you wake up and Justin Trudeau has been re-elected prime minister, or worse, Christia Freeland is prime minister now,” Baber said. “It’s not good, is it? Well, we rely on each other to make sure that doesn’t happen.
“And that means we have to stick together for the sake of our nation,” he added. “We all need to take a step back, take a deep breath. Calm down. Our party has almost 700,000 members. It’s a credit to every competitor for leading this race.”
On Wednesday night, the candidates faced questions about whether they would stick with the party if they did not win the leadership; Aitchison and Baber indicated they plan to continue supporting the Conservative Party regardless, while Charest dodged the question, telling reporters in a scrum after the debate that his focus remains on becoming the next leader.
Batterson ended the evening by urging party members to vote. He said the Conservative Party had set records for membership and every member should exercise their right to vote.
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