Candidates vying to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada faced each other for the first time on Monday in a French-language debate.
The stage was shared by four hopefuls: former governor of the banks of Canada and England Mark Carney, former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Liberal government House leader Karina Gould, and businessman and former MP Frank Baylis.
The question of how to deal with Donald Trump dominated the first half, as the US president has repeatedly threatened to tariff Canada and make it the “51st state.” Candidates also answered questions about domestic matters like immigration, healthcare and the high cost of living.

Early in the debate, Freeland — whose resignation as finance minister in December triggered the collapse of Trudeau’s leadership — stated that Trump represented “the greatest threat to Canada since World War Two”. She frequently drew on her experience in government, saying that she had successfully faced Trump during his first term when she helped renegotiate North America’s longstanding free-trade agreement. But Freeland warned that Trump’s second term might be worse for Canada.
“He wants to turn Canada into the 51st state, and it’s no joke,” she said. “That is why he is supporting [Russian President] Vladimir Putin’s criminal attempt to redraw Ukraine’s borders.” “Trump wants to redraw our borders too,” Freeland said. To counter these threats, Freeland and the other candidates suggested strengthening trade ties with the EU and the UK.

Gould, the youngest candidate on the stage, positioned herself as the candidate “for today and the future”, with a message that homed in on how a Liberal Party under her leadership would work to make life more affordable for Canadians. The candidates also addressed shifting US policy on Ukraine. As the four debated, Trudeau was in Kyiv marking three years since the Russia-Ukraine war began. All four candidates agreed that Canada should continue supporting Ukraine. Freeland suggested that money seized from Russia through sanctions be redistributed to help Ukraine’s war effort, while Carney stated that any discussion on Ukraine’s future could not happen without the Ukrainians at the table.