AFP :
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau devoted most of his time in a first election debate late Tuesday to discussing the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, and hit out at his main challenger, Conservative leader Erin O’Toole.
The French-language dustup, less than three weeks before voting, saw the one-time golden boy of Canadian politics square off against O’Toole, whom he now trails in public opinion polls, as well as New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh and Yves-Francois Blanchet at the reins of the separatist Bloc Quebecois.
They sparred over mandatory Covid vaccines, child care, taxation and the economy, oil and climate change, gun violence, the #MeToo movement, racism and “Quebec bashing.” “You do not know the issues, Mr. O’Toole!,” Trudeau said. “You have not costed any of your policy proposals. It is not a serious plan.”
He also accused the frontrunner of supporting “two-tier” private and public health care, which a majority of Canadians reject.
