6 big moments and takeaways from the final leaders' debate
CBC
Four party leaders shared the stage for the final time Thursday night before Canadians head to the polls.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh discussed numerous topics in the English leadership debate, including energy projects, the environment, public and national security as well as the cost of living.
Thursday's two-hour affair was the final debate before advance polls open this weekend. Voting day itself is just over a week away.
Here are six key moments and exchanges from Thursday night.
Carney's Liberals have held a fairly steady lead in the polls since the election was called last month. Carney was the main target of the other party leaders as a result.
Poilievre, Blanchet and Singh all took a swipe at Carney within the first 10 minutes of the debate.
Poilievre led the way by repeating his main argument from the campaign: that the Liberals have weakened the economy and shouldn't be trusted with another term.
Singh said Carney should have done more on EI before calling an election, while Blanchet accused him of not offering enough support to Quebec industries impacted by U.S. tariffs.
The three leaders vying to unseat the Liberals did have exchanges with each other, but mostly tried to keep the focus on Carney.
About a quarter of the way through the debate, Singh accused Poilievre of wanting to give tax breaks to wealthy Canadians and businesses. Moderator Steve Paikin asked Poilievre to respond to Singh, but the Conservative leader used the time to again focus on Carney.
Later in the debate, each leader was given an option to pose a question to one of their opponents. Poilievre, Singh and Blanchet all chose Carney.
Carney was the last to choose and joked, "I'm going to ask myself a question," before posing one to Poilievre.
Singh and Poilievre ran a replay from the French debate when it came to housing.
The NDP leader attacked his Conservative opponent's record, claiming that Poilievre only had six homes built when he briefly managed the housing file in Stephen Harper's cabinet.
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