Leaders' debate: Affordability, tariffs and pipelines early themes of the night

Blanchet pointed to the $2 billion in federal support announced for Ontario’s auto industry, and contrasted it to the effects of ongoing tariffs on Quebec’s lumber industry.

Speaking to Carney, he said, “Quebec has already paid to the United States two billions of dollars and you have not raised one finger in order to help us.”

Good evening everyone, Pippa Reed here in the CBC Edmonton newsroom.

I'm watching the debate with three undecided voters: Trent Daley, Grace Peng and Savannah Stewart. They are all in Edmonton ridings and their top concerns are cost of living and affordability.

Daley told me he's hoping to hear solid detailed plans from each leader, outlining their priorities. Stewart was confused by a common attack line used against Carney, most often by Poilievre.

“Why are we bringing up Trudeau?” she said.

Unlike last night, Poilievre and Carney are positioned side by side tonight and already we’re seeing the difference as the two men face off.

In the first open round of debate, Poilievre suggested Carney is just an extension of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals and will block pipeline development (as Singh noted later, Trudeau’s government bought a pipeline).

“My record is a month long as prime minister,” said Carney, before rattling off what he feels he’s achieved in that time.

Poilievre then interrupted, “The question is about pipelines."

“I am getting to it,” said an annoyed Carney.

Singh piped into the open debate to go after Carney on his policies for helping workers hit by tariffs.

The NDP leader repeated his frequent line of attack that Carney has not promised enough for everyday people, and instead given a tax break to wealthy Canadians — a reference to his promise to roll back a planned hike to the capital gains tax.

There was a show before the big show. A verbal fight erupted about 20 minutes ago in the media room between a reporter from The Hill Times and Ezra Levant of Rebel News.

The reporter was dressing down Levant, who has been accredited at the debate alongside four of his employees. Levant is also the owner of ForCanada, a third party advertiser registered with Elections Canada.

According to our colleague David Cochrane, Levant tried to interrupt CBC’s live broadcast ahead of the debate.

The Leaders' Debates Commission’s executive director, Michel Cormier, then took Levant into the hall for a conversation.

The commission has defended the decision to accredit the right-wing media enterprise, but said changes will be made on how many questions they get tonight.

Levant is back in the room.

Hello, I’m Holly, a journalist based in Montreal. Blanchet is again driving home the point that Quebec requires its own voice in negotiations with the U.S., because Quebec’s economy is “built differently” from the rest of Canada.

He said we should “never underestimate” the threat Trump poses.

Asked about whether Canada can trust the U.S. moving forward, Singh recalled his childhood in Windsor, Ont. — the auto heartland of the country that has been riled by Trump’s trade war.

“We’ve seen, what for a lot of people, feels like a betrayal from the United States,” Singh said, referring to tariffs.

Singh added that the relationship between Canada and the U.S. has fundamentally changed.

The first topic: tariffs and threats to Canada.

As Jenna mentioned, TVO's Steve Paikin is tonight's moderator.

Paikin has moderated three federal debates, so he knows the pressure that goes into the role. He told Power & Politics host David Cochrane outside Maison de Radio-Canada that he sees himself as a kind of referee.

"Any referee who sees his name in the paper the day after a game knows that that's a bad thing," Paikin said, adding he's aiming to keep a low profile.

The goal, he said, is for people not to notice he’s there. Instead, the focus will be on the leaders to say what they need, and answer the questions in viewers’ minds — all "in a relatively civilized fashion."

As for dealing with the stress of it all? Paikin says he's not trying to picture what people might say. "You feel what feels right in the moment. You bring your experience to bear," he said.

I’m in Val-d’Or, six hours northwest of Montreal. This is a city of 33,000 people considered to be the gateway to northern Quebec. Mining and forestry are the biggest industries here.

People say cost of living is a top concern. They say even though they’re not in a big city like Montreal, life is still very expensive. They’re worried about housing. They say renting is getting to be unaffordable, let alone buying a home. Daycare has come up a lot too.

One mother told me there are many parents who can’t work because they can’t find a spot for their child.

Some say they’re not voting because they’re just not interested in politics. Back in 2021, 45 per cent of eligible voters in this riding, Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou — which is geographically the largest in Quebec — cast a ballot.