Front Burner

Recapping the high-stakes leaders' debate

Issues of affordability, housing and pipelines dominated the English federal leaders' debate, as the Bloc, Conservatives and NDP aimed their fire at Liberal frontrunner Mark Carney.
Four men in suits pose for a photo.
From left: Poilievre, Carney, Singh and Blanchet. The men took a photo together before tonight's debate. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

As the federal election reaches the homestretch, four party leaders squared off in Montreal Thursday evening in the only English-language debate of the campaign. Liberal leader and polling frontrunner Mark Carney took heat from all sides as the Conservatives' Pierre Poilievre, the NDP's Jagmeet Singh and the Bloc's Yves-François Blanchet kept the barbs coming his way all night.

Aaron Wherry is a senior writer with CBC's Ottawa bureau. He breaks down how everyone performed and what we learned from them — as well as the controversy surrounding the debate commission itself, and the drama that led to post-debate reporter scrums being canceled.

Make sure to watch our election night livestream on Monday, April 28 starting at 8pm Eastern. You can find it here on the CBC News YouTube channel and on the CBC News TikTok.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

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