Two hour debate in quebec ahead of the october 21 federal election. Two weeks from tonight, canadiens will decide who to invite back to this place, Parliament Hill the house of commons. For 27 days the six main Party Leaders have been traveling the country. Taking pictures an promises president tonight they will defend and de construct their ideas live. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, and more. The goal is to give them your vote. The setting is one of canadas most remarkable institutions, in gatineau, quebec. This is the debate. Here are your leaders. [cheers and applause] debate. Here are your leaders. [cheers and applause] welcome to the 2019 de bay. Im one of the moderators tonight. Made up mostly of undecided voters gathered here in the round so they are the heart welcome to the 2019 debate. Im one of the moderators tonight. Our audience is made up mostly of undecided voters gathered here in the round so they are right at the heart of this important night. One note, however, we have asked them to hold back their applause throughout the debate so we can keep things moving, and just a couple more things to note before we get started, were going to tackle five major themes tonight, based on the question canadian voters want asked and debated. There were more than 8,000, so the themes tonight reflect those questions. The leaders will answer them based on an order selected in a random draw. We all want a meaningful debate tonight. Viewers want answers so the leaders have all agreed to respect the time they are allowed tonight and believe me, well you a make sure they do. Our first theme is leadership in canada, and the world, and our first question is from reagan lee right here in the audience. Reagan . Good evening, leaders. Sorry. Many canadiens have felt the implication of a divided world more so than 2015, from u. S. Protectionism to brexit, to our growing tensions with china. As Prime Minister, how would you effectively defend both the interests and values of canadiens on the world stage . Thank you. Reagan, thank you for that. Mr. Trudeau, youre first to respond tonight. You have 45 seconds. Thank you, reagan for being here tonight and thank you all for joining us in this important moment to talk about the future of our country and compare and contrast the various plans we have. We know we live in a very challenging time right now from protectionism to fearbased politics to the transformative technological change people are facing. We need to make sure canadiens are equipped to be able to succeed in an uncertain world and thats why over the past four years weve invested directly in canadiens. To help people be optimistic about their future and give them the tools to succeed. The environment is a massive and pressing challenge and building a stronger economy for the future means protecting the environment for the future as well. These are the things well be talking about tonight. Mr. Trudeau, thank you for that. Mr. Bernier, your opportunity to respond. Thank you. Were the Peoples Party and we put canada first. The other leaders on the stage are globalists. They send your money to buy a seat at the u. N. Security council, and also, they are giving your money to other countries to fight Climate Change in asia, and in africa. The u. N. Is a dysfunctional organization, and we must be able to fight for our country. Actually, were the only party that will have foreign policies thats based on our security and prosperity for our country. Mr. Bernier, thank you. The next opportunity for mr. Singh to respond. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for your question, reagan. I know its tough to ask questions in front of a big crowd. Thanks for doing that and thanks for canada joining and taking part in this discussion. To me leadership is about who youre fighting for, the choices you make and whether youre doing whats right for the people. Whether it comes to International Affairs, standing up to trump, making sure we fight to build a better trade agreement that puts canadiens first. For me the question comes down to, do you have the courage to stand up to the powerful and wealthy interests, corporations that are having too much influence over canada, and ive seen so far in ottawa, whether its liberal or conservative governments, they havent had the courage to stand up and fight for people. Were different. I dont work for the rich and powerful. I work for people. Mr. Singh, thank you, mr. Scheer, your opportunity to respond. Thank you very much. Of course, ill always stand up for canada and canadiens interest and promote free trade and defend our interests all around the world. Trudeau only pretends to stand up for canada. Hes very good at pretending. He cant even remember how many times he put a black face on because the fact is, hes always wearing a mask. He puts on a reconciliation mask and then fires the attorney general, the first one of indigenous background. He puts on a feminist mask and then fires too Strong Female m. P. s for not going along with his corruption. He puts on a middle class mask and then raises taxes on middle class canadiens. Mr. Trudeau, youre a phony, fraud and you do not deserve to govern this country. There will be an opportunity in the opening debate to defend each other. First, if you would like to answer reagans question. I would like to answer but i want to start by acknowledging that were on the traditional territory canadas role in the world is an amiable one. We have a historic reputation for being an honest broker, for being a country that stands up to multilateralism. Our future in the world is built on ending poverty and encouraging the education of women and girls. A cornerstone. On top of that we need to renegotiate the World Trade Organization and make it an organization that promotes climate action. We need a world trade and climate organization. We need to support the rule of law and human rights around the world because we are world leaders. Thank you, again, question, how would you as Prime Minister protect canada yen interests and values on this changing world stage. Mr. Blanchet. First, good evening, everybody, thank you for having me. I define leadership or showing leadership sometimes means not making mistakes. The chief Financial Officer may have been a big mistake for which farmers [inaudible] beef, might have paid the price. When youre facing a powerful foe like china, you dont try to show biceps if you have only tiny biceps, and this is something that has to be learned. We would support somebody with real leadership, not making mistakes. Mr. Blanchet, thank you for that, continuing with our theme leadership in canada and the world its now my opportunity to ask a question on behalf of canadiens. Again, to a leader chosen by a random draw, so this question is for Peoples Party leader maxine bernier. Every other leader will then have an opportunity to debate him, but mr. Bernier, you like to tweet. So let me read some of your tweets back to you. You call diversity in canada a cult and extreme multiculturalism. You have used the words ghetto and tribes to describe newcomers whom you say bring distrust and potential violence. On greta thunberg, the 16yearold climate activist, you called her clearly, mentally unstable. Are these the words of someone with the character and integrity to lead all canadiens and represent us on the world stage . The question, you must tell the truth to canadiens if you want to be the leader of this country and what im saying about extreme its not the way to build this country. Yes, this country is a diverse country and we must be proud of that but we dont need legislation like the multiculturalism act to tell us who we are. We are a diverse country and were proud of that. What im saying, because its in line with the immigration, im saying that we must have fewer immigrants in this country, to be sure, for these people it is a great country but time to have a discussion about the immigration. We dont want our country to be like other countries in europe where they have used difficulty to integrate their immigrants and empower canadiens and thats why i love this country and im the only leader on the stage who wants to have a discussion about the level of immigration. So were definitely going to have a lively debate tonight because now its mr. Singhs opportunity to debate mr. Bernier on that very question. The temperament required for a good leader. I mean, mr. Bernier, after hearing what was just said, you could have just said, im messed up, because those are pretty horrible tweets you made and for me it should come as no surprise, i believe a leader is not someone who tries to divide people or to pit people against each other. A true leader is someone who tries to form bridges, bringing people together. The leader works for people who need help. Not helping those at the very top which weve seen with governments in ottawa for far too long. They have been working to make life easier for the multibillionaires. They give massive Corporate Tax cuts. Billions of dollars go towards them. Offshore havens this is not the way to build a country. The way to build the future is to ] talking over each other] it will hurt everybody. Wealth and growth in this country you must believe in people. You must give back their money into their own pockets. Im just going to remind everyone this is a debate and the viewers do have a difficult time even hearing anything if youre talking over each other, so this is a portion where the leaders can debate mr. Bernier, and it is now the opportunity of mr. Scheer to debate mr. Bernier on the question of leadership. Youre right. Our canada yen values. Between men and women. Youre right. We want people to come and share our canadian values. Equality before the law. You have changed you have changed from someone who used to believe, who used to believe in immigration let mr. Scheer have the question. Who used to believe in an immigration system that was fair, orderly and compassionate and now you are making your policy based on trying to get likes and retweets in the darkest parts of twitter. We can be a country that celebrates the contribution all around the world. Its important i dont want to celebrate. You can do that. You can do that. Celebrate who we are and were not doing that. That is the difference between mr. Bernier and myself on this issue. We believe, we believe in making canada stronger by welcoming people, adding it to our country and celebrating the things that has made us great as a hags. Now well hear from ms. May and bernier. I understand the question. It was also about the characteristics of leadership. Let me say up front leadership is service. The things that make a good Prime Minister is recognizing that were public servants. We havent won some kind of lotto. We dont get to lord it over everybody. Were here as your employee. I had a little quibble with our introduction, who will get invited back . Its not the invited to go to parliament. Its to sign up to work, and to be a public service, i believe in service leadership. That said i find the things that bernier has said to be completely appalling and he knows that i feel that way about the things he says in the house. We used to sit together. I would have to put my head in my hands because it was so horrific. I appreciate you, but i dont share your policies. I dont share your socialist policies, because, you know, we wont be able to create any wealth with your policies. Tough same kind of policies in socialist countries like venezuela. That wont create wealth. You must admit that. Youve spent 60 billion. Thats not responsible. Supporting immigration is what we need for this economy. Im supporting immigration. I support im supporting pro immigration and so are we. Thank you, ms. May. Now its mr. Blanchets opportunity. How many seconds will you leave me before we jump in. Somebody invoking the truth should not be somebody denying Climate Change. In the views of socialism, it seems to come a little bit too easy. You waited 10 seconds. [laughter] we were worried they wouldnt pay attention. Its not that much a matter of number. Its resources, we invest in it to have those persons welcomed as well in canada as they are in quebec, with our desire for them to share our language, to share some of our values, and if we do have enough resources invested in that, this is workable. And you do not do it by saying or sending the message that they are not welcomed. Here in canada or quebec. Everybody is welcomed in this country. 49 of our population believe that we must have fewer immigrants. They are not racists, they are not radical. What youre saying, in line with our population that im supposed to be a radical . No. We have the right in this country to debate ideas and thats what im doing. For immigrants also . Were all immigrants. Absolutely and were proud. Were proud canadiens. Okay. And the final debate on this subject goes to mr. Trudeau to whether bernier. Again, temperament required for a good leader. I think its important to recognize that were in a world right now where these discussions, this polarization, this fear of the other, has become easy currency for politicians who do want to strike up uncertainty in peoples hearts and lift those anxieties and try to get people to vote against things. Unfortunately mr. Bernier on this stage is playing that role of trying to make people more fearful about the migrations that are happening in the world and the opportunities around globalization, and our ability to continue to redefine every single day what it is to be canada yen, what it means to be canada yen. Yes, it will evolve. It will transform itself as we take leadership. As we move forward. And you. Always want to celebrate you always want to celebrate diversity. We must celebrate, we must celebrate who we are. And im a proud canadian like you. You know, we build this country together and we want this country to be like that in 25 years. We love this country and its because i want to have a discussion about immigration doesnt make me radical. Only 6 to say publicly what mr. Scheer thinks privately. Only 6 of canadiens want more immigration. Only 6 , so when you dont want to have a debate about that youre not in line with the population. Lets have an honest debate on that subject. Okay. On that we want to hear from another canada yen tonight. There are obviously so many layers to the issue of leadership. So this question is coming from Susan Fernando who asks her question from calgary. Again. Hi, im Susan Fernando in calgary. More often than not, provincial governments and federal government are on different wave lengths. No matter what the Political Party. Cooperation is key when it comes to issues of pensions, workers rights, to education, and healthcare. As Prime Minister, how would you demonstrate strong leadership when working with the providence vins and territories . Okay, thank you, Susan Fernando from calgary. Again, based on a random draw this goes to mr. Bernier first and then every other leader will have the chance to answer. Mr. Bernier. First of all, i will respect the constitution. I will respect provinces, and thats very important. And i wont interfere with provincial jurisdiction. I wont interfere in healthcare because its a provincial jurisdiction. And we cannot in ottawa solve the challenges for healthcare, and what we can do, we can transfer the money to the provinces and what i will do, i will let provinces be able to deal with healthcare and education. Thats our constitution. Well transfer the gsd so provinces will have the money to deal with that and they will be able to insert to your challenges. Thank you, mr. Bernier. Now its mr. Singhs opportunity to respond. Thank you, susan for the question. Really, shes touched on a lot of concerns that canadiens have. Things are getting harder than ever before and she touched on a whole host of issues, pensions and healthcare. I want to single in on healthcare. To me, thats one of the biggest concerns i hear about when i meet with people across this country. When i think of the people that i meet, the young boy that i met, that has a chronic illness and has to pay for his his family has to pay for medication, injections and blood work. He told me hes not worried about the illness but hes worried about being a burden to his mom and dad. To that person, mr. Trudeau is saying youre not worth big pharma care. Big pharmaceutical companies are more important. I want to say to that young person with a new democratic government, would you use your healthcare, not your credit card for medication. Mr. Singh, thank you, mr. Scheer, your opportunity. Conservatives have always recognized the importance of working with provinces. We respect provincial jurisdiction but we also understand it will take federal leadership to get things un, like interprovincial free trade. Something mr. Trudeau has failed to accomplish. One thing i can promise, they wont have to take a conservative government to court to fight things like the carbon tax. Mr. Trudeau has imposed his carbon tax on province that is dont want to go along with his high cost scheme. This carbon tax is increasing the cost of Everyday Essentials like gasoline, home heating, and groceries and it will only go up after the next election. Hes refusing to tell canadiens how high his carbon tax will go if hes reelected. The conservative government under my leadership will scrap the carbon tax. Mr. Scheer, thank you. Ms. May. Thanks for the question. Its very important. Cooperation is in our dna, none of the problems we solve are going, we face, are going to be solved arguing and fighting with each other whether its within parliament, in our different parties, or between the federal government, the provinces and the territories. The greens are proposing a reinvigorated form of federalism. Modeled after whats been done in australia, we want a council of canadian governments. Federal government, provincial, and territory, municipal and the local levels of government need to be seated at the table, so, too, indigenous nations, around the same table, finding Common Ground. On urgent issues like healthcare. On the climate emergency, and working together in the public interest. Okay, ms. May, thank you. Mr. Blanchet, your opportunity. Thank you, if i remember well i saw a study today saying that this campaign is not about federal issues but about provincial and quebec issues. This is not a surprise. If you want cooperation with provinces or quebec, you need to respect the jurisdiction and something that you have to stop doing and this is one