OTTAWA -- The four people looking to become the next leader of the federal Conservative Party squared off in the first debate Wednesday night, in French.
Erin O’Toole, Peter MacKay, Derek Sloan and Leslyn Lewis challenged each other on their policies and visions for where they’d take the party as they sought to define themselves and gain support.
Here are the four main takeaways:
1) IT GOT OFF TO A LATE START
The debate was scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. ET at a hotel in Toronto but it was 40 minutes later before things got rolling. With all four candidates showing up at the venue well after the planned start time, the at-home audience -- which given COVID-19 restrictions was the only audience -- were treated to some jaunty elevator music as they waited for the main event.
CTVNews.ca inquired with the party as to the cause of the late start, but as of filing had not heard back on the official word, though some suggested the reason was technical issues.
2) LANGUAGE LIMITATIONS
Once the debate got underway, the candidates’ proficiency in French was quickly put to the test. There was no simultaneous translation offered to the participants so they had to each rely on their own language skills to navigate the discussion, and some had an easier time than others.
While MacKay and O'Toole spoke French with a more limited use of notes, Sloan and Lewis relied heavily on prepared remarks. In Lewis’s case that resulted in sometimes responding to questions from her opponents with comments on an entirely different topic.
Asked how she thought she fared when it came to communicating in French, Lewis told reporters after the debate that it was “very scary” to do, but she said she thought she came out OK. “I am happy to have gotten through it,” she said. “I’m just new to the language.”
O’Toole looked to temper expectations off the bat, saying in his opening remarks that during the debate he would likely make some mistakes but he plans to continue to improve his French.
Similarly, Sloan vowed to be bilingual come the next federal election.
3) EXPERIENCE AND UNITY RECURRING TOPICS
Over the course of the debate O’Toole and MacKay took turns questioning each other’s experience and track record, to the point where efforts were made by the moderator to get Sloan and Lewis into the discussion.
O’Toole sought to frame himself as a leader “for the future” and not a career politician, while MacKay said he would be the best placed to lead the party into the next election, which he said he’d like to happen sooner rather than later.
MacKay several times sought to drive home the point that he has the most experience to hit the ground running during an election campaign, and also the experience to get the country through the COVID-19 crisis, citing his time in government during the last recession.
O’Toole said it will be important that come September when the House of Commons resumes in earnest that there be a leader of the party in the chamber to hold Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to account during the post-COVID-19 economic restart, noting that MacKay doesn’t have a seat.
In contrast, MacKay said he isn’t running to be in opposition, he is running to defeat the Liberals, calling O’Toole “Erin Trudeau” at one point.
4) BATTLE-LINES DRAWN ON SOCIAL ISSUES
Social conservative issues and how each candidate would approach them was a recurring aspect to the debate. As seen by the struggles outgoing Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer had during the 2019 federal election campaign, the party’s messaging and position on topics like abortion and same-sex marriage remain hot-button issues that divide party members.
Some feel as if their voices are not being heard, while others have argued it’s time to move beyond these conversations to attract more moderate voters.
Sloan and Lewis both made as clear as they could during the debate that they would be the voice for those who are socially conservative, while questioning the positions and past voting records of MacKay and O’Toole.
It was on these topics as well that MacKay and O’Toole went at each other, with O’Toole accusing MacKay of putting people off with his past “stinking albatross” comments and flip-flopping on his approach to conscience rights and free votes for MPs, while MacKay accused O’Toole of changing his position depending on who he speaks to.
The English-language debate gets underway Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. CTVNews.ca will have live coverage.
