who won leaders debate

Nobody really won last night's federal leaders' election debate

Wondering who won last night's federal leaders' debate in Canada? So is almost everyone else who watched it go down.

The grand consensus following 2019's only official English-language debate is that things felt chaotic for viewers. 

All six main federal party leaders (Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Green Leader Elizabeth May, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and People's Party Leader Maxime Bernier) managed to get some good sound bites in at the expense of their opponents — though some zingers landed better than others.

Singh made some waves on Twitter when, during a portion of the debate about climate change, he turned to the camera and addressed voters directly: "You do not need to choose between Mr. Delay and Mr. Deny," he said, referring to Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau and Conservative leader Andrew Scheer.

May said similarly of Trudeau's climate change plan: "If you have a fire in a four-storey building, getting a one-storey ladder doesn't do it."

Trudeau was the target of attacks from both sides of the floor throughout the roughly two-hour-long debate in Gatineau, Quebec, though the Prime Minister did deliver a few jabs to Scheer and far-right People's Party Leader Maxime Bernier.

"Mr. Bernier, your role on this stage is to say publicly what Mr. Scheer thinks privately," said Trudeau rather awkwardly at one point.

Scheer, for his part, called Trudeau a "phony" and accused him of only pretending to stand up for Canada.

"He's very good at pretending things," said Scheer of Trudeau. "He can't even remember how many times he put blackface on, because the fact of the matter is, he's always wearing a mask."

Viewers across the country had plenty to say as the debate was taking place, but there was no overwhelming positive sentiment toward any one candidate on social media, with the exception of Singh.

The NDP Leader, who was witty and eloquent throughout the evening, garnered more praise for his performance than most, but the debate still largely functioned as a sparring match between Trudeau and Scheer.

You can watch a replay of the entire thing right here and judge for yourself how everybody fared.

A French-language debate is up next on the docket this Thursday, October 10, at 8 p.m. The 43rd Canadian general election is scheduled to take place in just a few weeks on October 21, 2019.

Lead photo by

service webdiffusion des Contenus


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