5 key takeaways from the final Liberal leadership debate
Contenders painted themselves as best person to take on Trump, Poilievre
The four candidates vying to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took the debate stage for the final time as the Liberal leadership contest enters the home stretch.
Former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland, former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, former government House leader Karina Gould and former MP and businessman Frank Baylis squared off in an English debate Tuesday night.
It is the last time the four will share the same stage before the Liberals announce their new leader on March 9. Here are five key takeaways from Tuesday's debate.
Trump on the brain
Canada-U.S. relations was the first topic that the candidates dug into, but U.S. President Donald Trump's name was continually mentioned as the conversation moved to other topics like the economy and the environment.
Freeland — who has spent most of the campaign painting herself as the best person to take on Trump given her role in negotiating the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) — brought up Trump several times.
"Trump is posing the gravest challenge our country has face since the Second World War," Freeland said during her opening statement.
"Trump is unleashed and empowered. As your prime minister, I will be too," Freeland said. She stated several times that Trump's tariff threats give Canada an opportunity to strengthen the economy.
Baylis suggested his experience in the business world gave him the "expertise" to handle Trump.
"I can predict what he'll do and then I can help build our defences to stop him from doing those things and also counterattack," Baylis said in reference to Trump's tariff threats.
Carney fell back on his experience running the Bank of Canada during the 2008 financial crisis and heading the Bank of England during Brexit negotiations.
"In a situation like this you need experience in terms of crisis management, you need negotiating skills, but you also need economic expertise," he said.
Gould said "men like Donald Trump" have underestimated her in the past and argued that her time as government House leader has given her skills to handle people with whom she disagrees.
"You can't bring a calculator to a knife fight. You have to fight very strongly and with the right tools and that's exactly what I'm going to do as prime minister," she said.
Carney distances himself from Trudeau
At multiple points, Carney made some effort to differentiate himself from the Trudeau Liberals.
Carney is the only leadership candidate who hasn't been an MP in Trudeau's government. But Conservatives have criticized him for being an adviser to Trudeau. Carney has pushed back against those criticisms in the past, suggesting that his advice wasn't always followed.
The former central banker kicked things off by suggesting he would "bring the right change" for Canada. In his closing remarks he said he is "not a politician."
When the debate turned to the armed forces, Carney said he would focus defence spending in Canada and then gestured to the other candidates and while suggesting that "this government" has sent those funds to the U.S.
Carney also focused his message on fostering economic growth while suggesting that the economy under the current government was "weak."
"Our economy was weak before we got to the point of these threats from President Trump, that's why we need big changes … to how we're managing our economy," he said.
Carney did suggest he would keep some of the Trudeau government's key social policies, such as child care and dental care.
For his part, Baylis argued near the end of the debate that he hasn't been a minister or adviser for the prime minister and therefore has the most distance from Trudeau.
"I will be focused much more on the economy. I will be focused on creating wealth. I will be focused on getting more money into Canadians' pockets. That's what I'm good at," Baylis said.
Gould subtly jabs Carney
The overall tone of the debate wasn't terribly combative. As with the French debate, the candidates found themselves agreeing with each other on a number of points.
But Gould at times asked Carney pointed questions and at others took subtle shots at the perceived front-runner.
She started by questioning if he would prioritize some Canadian industries over others when it comes to negotiating with Trump.
"As prime minister, I'm not going to negotiate any of those sectors away. I'm going to stand up for people in every single province and territory," she said.
Carney responded by stating that there are certain things, such as cultural industries and water, that he would make clear are untouchable in any trade negotiation.
Later, Gould also questioned Carney about his timeline for meeting Canada's NATO defence spending commitments.
And she suggested Carney only started talking about housing affordability during the debate.
After Carney had suggested he wanted to strengthen Canada's "weak" economy, Gould responded by saying she wouldn't "talk down Canada." Freeland then jumped in and said Liberals shouldn't imitate "Conservative talking points" about Canada being "broken."
But Gould also complimented Carney, at one point saying he was an "excellent deputy minister" under former prime minister Paul Martin.
Candidates take aim at Poilievre
Although he was name-dropped less than Trump, the candidates also spent some time trying to define Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Whoever wins the leadership will have to turn their full attention to Poilievre as a general election could come as early as the spring.
Carney said Poilievre was not taking foreign interference seriously by declining security clearance to view classified documents. The Conservative leader has argued that he would be unable to speak freely about the information he sees in those documents.
"The responsibility of all politicians, particularly the leaders of parties and certainly the prime minister, is to be fully briefed on these issues," Carney said, noting that he has begun the process to get his security clearance.
"This is the kind of irresponsibility, at a time when our country is under threat, that we cannot afford. We cannot afford a leader like Pierre Poilievre."
Freeland took a shot at the Conservative leader when the conversation turned to the environment, saying a Poilievre government would "be the end of climate action in Canada."
The former finance minister also characterized Poilievre as a threat to social programs like health care and child care.
Baylis brought up Poilievre in his closing statement, saying he would "expose" the Conservative leader as a "career politician."
Gould used her opening statement to characterize herself as being able to take on Poilievre as she did in her role as House leader. Both she and Carney tried to paint Poilievre as a Canadian version of Trump at points during the debate.
Carbon tax changes
Although candidates criticized Poilievre's environmental position, three of the four are walking away from Trudeau's key environmental policy that the Conservative leader has heavily attacked: the consumer carbon tax.
Gould is the only candidate who says she would keep the consumer levy, though she has said she won't increase it further.
"I'm not going to abandon the fight against climate change because Pierre Poilievre is telling us to do that. I'm a mom of two young kids. I cannot leave a planet that is burning to them," she said.
Freeland said she realized the government would have to move on from the consumer carbon tax after speaking with Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew shortly after he took office.
"He said to me, 'I believe in climate action. But … the people of Manitoba are telling me that the way the consumer price on pollution works, doesn't work for them,'" she said.
"Leadership is listening to people. It is not being inflexible."
Both Carney and Baylis said they would incentivize a green technology shift rather than taxing consumers.
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