Conservative leadership contenders cross swords on inflation, Quebec's Bill 21
Conservative leadership contenders cross swords on inflation, Quebec's Bill 21
Conservative leadership contenders cross swords on inflation, Quebec's Bill 21
LAVAL, Que. -
Candidates competing to lead the federal Conservatives traded barbs over contentious language laws, inflation and the trucker convoy in the race's only French-language debate Wednesday night, with Pierre Poilievre finding himself on the defensive through parts of the evening.
The debate took place in Quebec, a crucial region that has proven instrumental in the party's last two leadership races, despite only 10 of the 119 current Conservative MPs being based in the province.
Former Quebec premier Jean Charest and Patrick Brown, the mayor of Brampton, Ont., both accused longtime Ottawa-area MP Pierre Poilievre of evading clarity when speaking about Quebec's controversial secularism law, which has widespread support in the province.
"I am against Bill 21," longtime Ottawa-area MP Pierre Poilievre said on stage before several hundred Conservatives gathered in Laval, Que.
The legislation prohibits certain public servants in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols on the job.
Poilievre insisted he would not overturn the stance of federal Justice Minister David Lametti, who said earlier Wednesday that Ottawa would join a challenge to the law should it reach the Supreme Court.
Charest said that a prime minister "shouldn’t be neutral" on the legislation, while stressing Quebec's right to make laws within its jurisdiction.
Brown has spent the race campaigning against the religious symbols law, which he calls an affront to religious freedom.
Candidates took the stage one day after a contentious language reform bill passed Quebec's legislature. Bill 96 seeks to limit the use of English in the courts and public services, grant powers of search and seizure without a warrant to Quebec's language regulator and cap enrolment at English-language junior colleges, called CEGEPs, where students would have to take more courses in French.
Asked after the debate whether he would fight the legislation, Charest told reporters he would "speak to it" if elected prime minister, but held back on denouncing it.
Leadership candidate Scott Aitchison, an MP from rural Ontario, released a statement ahead of Wednesday's event pledging that a government led by him would work with Quebecers to see the new language bill and province's religious symbols law repealed, calling Premier François Legault's reforms "divisive."
The debate took place as a key deadline approaches.
The six candidates have until June 3 to sign up supporters as party members eligible to vote in the leadership contest.
The former Progressive Conservatives dominated in Quebec under former Brian Mulroney. The Conservative Party of Canada, which formed in 2003, has never elected more than a dozen MPs in the province. That high-water mark came in 2015, when former prime minister Stephen Harper led the party in the election but then stepped down after losing to the Liberals.
During the 2021 election, then-leader Erin O'Toole tried to change that, including by promising to enter into a new contract with Quebec that would better respect its areas of jurisdiction.
The new leader will be announced Sept. 10 at an in-person gathering of party members at a convention centre in downtown Ottawa.
On inflation, Charest jabbed Poilievre for having stated during the English-language debate earlier this month he would fire the Bank of Canada governor if he were elected prime minister.
Ontario MP Leslyn Lewis also joined Brown in attacking Poilievre for his embrace of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin as a solution to inflation.
"Il est dans les patates," she said in French, which got a laugh from the audience. The expression translates literally to mean that someone is in the potato patch, but is used to chide someone for being wrong.
Lewis was often reading from her notes during a debate where she said she is learning to speak French.
At one point, Brown said Poilievre's position on Bitcoin was similar to that of the leadership in El Salvador, which adopted Bitcoin as legal tender.
The International Monetary Fund urged the Central American country to drop Bitcoin as its official currency earlier this year, citing its volatility.
Poilievre accused Charest of tax increases in Quebec, earning boos from the Charest-friendly crowd.
Roman Baber, who was an Independent Ontario lawmaker before the province headed into an election, also admitted he struggles in French.
“I know it’s very important for a prime minister to speak both languages," he said, adding he's had French lessons "almost every morning — I got up at 7 a.m. to do that." He requested patience from the audience.
Asked about organized crime in the province, Charest deemed it "ironic to hear Mr. Poilievre talk about law and order," citing his support for the protests that gridlocked downtown Ottawa for three weeks in February.
"Remember that," Charest said, drawing more boos from the raucous attendees.
“Remember the Charbonneau Commission?" Poilievre said later in the debate.
He was referring into an investigation into corruption in the province's construction industry that was launched by Charest's government near the end of his nine years as Quebec premier.
Asked during the debate how to curb illegal arrivals into Quebec at the unofficial border crossing at Roxham Road, Poilievre said he is "against illegal entries, but at the same time I am for immigration," noting his wife came to Canada as a Venezuelan refugee.
Should he become prime minister, Poilievre pledged to reach agreements with provinces within 60 days to recognize professional qualifications for newcomers to Canada.
Charest stressed the need to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement, which allows Canada to turn back potential refugees who show up at land ports of entry along the Canada-U.S. border.
The agreement says they must pursue their claims in the U.S., the country where they first arrived, but it only applies at official border crossings. Those entering at irregular crossings such as Roxham Road, near Hemmingford, Que., must be processed in Canada.
Charest also lamented "long" delays at the Immigration Department.
"You have to clean up the department to give a decisive boost," he said.
Brown attacked Poilievre by accusing him of not publicly condemning the "white replacement" conspiracy theory espoused by Pat King, a leader of the Ottawa convoy protest. (Poilievre denounced both the conspiracy theory and King in a statement to The Canadian Press last week.)
Poilievre responded by saying he has in fact "rejected" King's remarks, accusing Brown of dividing Conservatives by making different pledges to various community groups behind closed doors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 25, 2022.
Now that the House and Senate have adjourned for the summer, CTVNews.ca breaks down what key pieces of legislation passed in the final days of the spring session, and what key government bills will be left to deal with in the fall.
What does Bill C-21 propose to do? From a handgun 'freeze' to 'red' and 'yellow' flag laws, CTVNews.ca explores the federal government's proposed firearm legislation.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh's recent encounter with protesters at an Ontario election campaign stop, where he was verbally harassed, is casting a renewed spotlight on politicians' security, with Singh telling CTV News that he's witnessing a level of anger he hasn't seen before.
The Conservative Party leadership race is well underway as contenders hold rallies, duke it out in debates, and slowly release more details of their policy platforms. Here's a snapshot of where the five candidates stand on the economy, housing, climate, defence and social issues.
The federal Liberals and New Democrats have finalized an agreement that, if maintained, would keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government in power until June 2025, in exchange for progress on longstanding NDP priorities. Trudeau announced Tuesday morning that the confidence-and-supply agreement has been brokered, and is effective immediately.
'After a weeks-long survey of just about everyone I've met ... the overall judgment on Justin Trudeau is one of being a political write-off,' writes Don Martin in an opinion column for CTVNews.ca. 'He’s too woke, too precious, preachy in tone, exceedingly smug, lacking in leadership, fading in celebrity, slow to act, short-sighted in vision and generally getting more irritating with every breathlessly whispered public pronouncement,' Martin writes.
It's time for the whiners to win and the government to reopen the skies, a return to those glory times of flying when the biggest complaints were expensive parking, a middle seat and stale pretzels, commentator Don Martin writes in an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca.
In an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin says Doug Ford coasted to majority re-election victory in Ontario by sticking to the middle of the road: 'Not too progressive. Not too conservative.'
There's a lesson for Canada's political leaders in the short life and quick death of Jason Kenney as premier of Alberta, writes Don Martin in an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca.
It's becoming a make-or-break week for two Conservative premiers as their futures pivot on a pair of defining moments, writes Don Martin in an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca.
Patrick Brown is alleging political corruption played a role in his disqualification from the Conservative Party of Canada's leadership race, a move that came following allegations that his campaign violated election financing rules.
Despite being disqualified by the Conservative Party of Canada from becoming its next leader, ousted candidate Patrick Brown's name will still appear on the ballot.
Video has emerged showing a worker dangling in the air above a Toronto construction site after accidently getting entangled in a tagline attached to a crane.
The federal government has no intention of dropping the controversial ArriveCan app because it gives the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) key health information about travellers who test positive for COVID-19 through testing at airports and land borders, senior government sources tell CTV News.
Air Canada and Toronto's Pearson airport again claimed the top spots for flight delays on Tuesday, marking at least four days in a row where the country's biggest airline has placed No. 1 of any large carrier worldwide.
Air Canada said on Wednesday it will not allow animals in the baggage hold until Sept. 12 due to 'longer than usual' delays at airports, as carriers and airports wrestle with complaints over lost luggage and long lines.
As gas prices slightly trend down this week after some of the highest national averages seen in recent months, some Canadians may be thinking twice before planning their usual summer road trip plans. CTVNews.ca looks at how drivers can save at the pumps while travelling.
Prices have been easing slightly recently, but affording a mortgage is still a very difficult task for many Canadians. How much of a mortgage can you afford? Contributor Christopher Liew breaks it down in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
A federal judge Wednesday sentenced Jerry Harris, a former star of the Netflix documentary series 'Cheer,' to 12 years in prison for coercing teenage boys to send him obscene photos and videos of themselves and soliciting sex from minors at cheerleading competitions.
Video has emerged showing a worker dangling in the air above a Toronto construction site after accidently getting entangled in a tagline attached to a crane.
Weeks after a terrifying machete attack in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, authorities have yet to identify the person responsible – but new surveillance video is offering a glimpse of a suspect.
The leader of Quebec's Liberal Party paused her vacation briefly on Wednesday to react to the news that two young emergency room doctors have quit their jobs in their hometown of Montreal to work in Toronto.
An emergency room physician is urging governments to address the country’s shortfall of health-care workers in light of the recent temporary shutdowns of emergency departments and the staffing downsizing at others.
Wade Stene, who admitted to kidnapping and sexually assaulting an eight-year-old Edmonton girl, was sentenced to 15.5 years behind bars Wednesday afternoon.
Prince Charles has met his granddaughter Lilibet for the first time, the prince's office confirmed to CTVNews.ca. According to reports, it was a 'very emotional' first meeting, which took place during the Platinum Jubilee.
The man charged with killing seven people at an Independence Day parade confessed to police that he unleashed a hail of bullets from a rooftop in suburban Chicago and then fled to the Madison, Wis., area, where he contemplated shooting up an event there, authorities said Wednesday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un convened an unprecedented conference aimed at strengthening the ruling Workers' Party of Korea's (WPK) 'monolithic' leadership across society, state media reported on Thursday.
Jayland Walker was handcuffed behind his back when his body arrived at the coroner's office to be processed as part of the investigation into the officers who shot and killed him in Akron last week, according to a medical examiner's report that was reviewed by CNN.
The victims of the July 4 parade shooting in a Chicago suburb were Kevin McCarthy, 37; Irina McCarthy, 35; Katherine Goldstein, 64; Stephen Straus, 88; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69.
Days after a rooftop gunman killed seven people at a parade, attention has turned to how the assailant obtained multiple guns and whether the laws on Illinois books could have prevented the Independence Day massacre.
Patrick Brown is alleging political corruption played a role in his disqualification from the Conservative Party of Canada's leadership race, a move that came following allegations that his campaign violated election financing rules.
Despite being disqualified by the Conservative Party of Canada from becoming its next leader, ousted candidate Patrick Brown's name will still appear on the ballot.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress wants Canada to up the pressure on Vladimir Putin's regime and lead a global charge to get Russia expelled from the G20.
A British man's overdose on vitamin D is a cautionary tale for people who are considering adding supplements to their lives, according to a paper published Tuesday in the journal BMJ Case Reports.
The Biden administration is looking to help foreign makers of baby formula stay on the U.S. market for the long term, in an effort to diversify the industry after the closure of the largest domestic plant sparked a nationwide shortage.
Hackers claim to have obtained a trove of data on 1 billion Chinese from a Shanghai police database in a leak that, if confirmed, could be one of the largest data breaches in history.
An enormous waterlily in London's Royal Botanic Gardens has been discovered to belong to an entirely new species, after 177 years in the gardens' herbarium.
A federal judge Wednesday sentenced Jerry Harris, a former star of the Netflix documentary series 'Cheer,' to 12 years in prison for coercing teenage boys to send him obscene photos and videos of themselves and soliciting sex from minors at cheerleading competitions.
Prices have been easing slightly recently, but affording a mortgage is still a very difficult task for many Canadians. How much of a mortgage can you afford? Contributor Christopher Liew breaks it down in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says residential mortgage debt grew by nine per cent last year compared with a year earlier for the fastest pace of growth since 2008.
The Secretary-General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has died, Nigerian authorities and the oil cartel announced Wednesday. Only hours before his death, he'd met with Nigeria's president and spoken in defence of the energy industry amid increasing climate change pressure.
Someone in British Columbia could be sitting on a lottery ticket worth a whopping $15 million – but there's only a few weeks left to claim the jackpot.
Thousands of revellers erupted in celebration Wednesday as the traditional 'chupinazo' firework was ignited to start the San Fermin bull-run festival in the Spanish city of Pamplona, ending a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Montreal swimmer Mary-Sophie Harvey says she was drugged on the final day of the world aquatics championships and suffered a rib sprain and a concussion.
Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has said he supports the cause of environmentalist group Just Stop Oil, but not some of its methods after group members invaded the track during the British Grand Prix.
A Vancouver Island real estate agent has lost his bid to recover a deposit he made on a new Ford Mustang that he intended to offer as a prize in a year-long contest in 2020.
