French Leaders Debate Results and Key Moments

April 16, 2025, 8:20 pm

Federal party leaders participated in a French-language debate that tackled diverse national issues, with discussion ranging from domestic policy to international trade. Several pundits examined candidate performances, noting Poilievre’s striking presentation despite mixed results, while policy priorities were debated by leaders such as Mark Carney, Pierre Poilievre, Jagmeet Singh, and Yves-François Blanchet. The coverage analyzed key moments, public reactions, and the strategic positioning of each contender ahead of further electoral challenges.

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nationalpost.com / Chris Selley: The spectre of Trudeau overshadows Carney’s French debate

Carney, like Michael Ignatieff before him, doesn't even seem to be in charge of his own campaign

ledevoir.com / Les médias de droite s’imposent lors des conférences de presse après le débat

Rebel News dit avoir exercé des pressions juridiques sur la Commission des débats pour y obtenir un meilleur accès.

lapresse.ca / La revue de presse de Paul Arcand | Débat des chefs : « Beaucoup de promesses, pas de chiffres et pas de grand gagnant »

À l’occasion de sa revue de presse, jeudi, Paul Arcand fait le point sur le débat des chefs en français de mercredi soir.

thestar.com / Party leaders face off in English for second federal leaders' debate

MONTREAL - The leaders of Canada's four main political parties will square off for a second and final leaders' debate tonight in Montreal, after an initial French-language faceoff on Wednesday.

ottawacitizen.com / Could a Liberal defeat Pierre Poilievre in his own riding? Bruce Fanjoy thinks so

The Liberal candidate for Carleton always believed there was a way to defeat the Conservative leader on his home turf. Now the country is watching.

thehub.ca / Need to Know: Carney tried to distance himself from Trudeau during the French-language debate. It’s a hard case to make

The post Need to Know: Carney tried to distance himself from Trudeau during the French-language debate. It’s a hard case to make appeared first on The Hub.

thehub.ca / Harrison Lowman: It’s time for Conservatives to grow up and show up at local debates

The post Harrison Lowman: It’s time for Conservatives to grow up and show up at local debates appeared first on The Hub.

nationalpost.com / Tasha Kheiriddin: Mark Carney gets a free ride as Poilievre dukes it out with Singh

Liberal leader's mediocre French exceeded expectations during debate

citynews.ca / Federal leaders clash on nuclear energy, pipelines during French debate

A possible east-west pipeline and nuclear energy were key elements over which federal party leaders clashed – and in some cases agreed – during Wednesday’s French-language debate. Not usually on the same page, Liberal Leader Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre aligned on...

winnipegfreepress.com / Rebel News, other right-wing media dominate press conferences after French debate

thestar.com / Rebel News, other right-wing media dominate press conferences after French debate

OTTAWA - Rebel News and other right-wing media outlets dominated the question-and-answer sessions with federal party leaders after Wednesday's French-language leaders' debate — though not all of them got answers to their questions.

winnipegfreepress.com / Pipelines, promises and platforms: Leaders clash over policy, prose in French debate

thestar.com / Pipelines, promises and platforms: Leaders clash over policy, prose in French debate

OTTAWA - Federal party leaders laid out their priorities and challenged each other's policies and word choices during the French-language debate Wednesday.

financialpost.com / Pipelines, the trade war and ‘Harry Potter’ financials: The key economic takeaways from the first leaders' debate

All party leaders vowed that supply management would not be touched, despite concessions being made on the three last trade deals negotiated by Canada

thestar.com / Strategists say no campaign shakeup after French debate as Carney emerges unscathed

OTTAWA - Political strategists said Wednesday that no single party leader was able to punch through and disrupt the election's status quo in Wednesday's French leaders debate — allowing rookie Liberal Leader Mark Carney to emerge mostly unscathed.

winnipegfreepress.com / Strategists say no campaign shakeup after French debate as Carney emerges unscathed

nationalpost.com / Why Jagmeet Singh lost his cool during the French-language debate

The moderator called Singh’s name two times, before counting to three. Singh didn’t stop

calgaryherald.com / Bell: Carney keeps peddling the Big Lie, fear is the name of the game

If a snake oil salesman was picking a place to ply his con artist trade the obvious choice would be Canada — hands down

torontosun.com / LILLEY: Poised Poilievre pushes for economic independence at French debate

Conservative leader stood firm, sounded confident and relaxed as Liberal leader struggled at times during French debate

torontosun.com / KINSELLA: Poilievre shines in French-language debate, but fails to take needed ground

The French-language debate: Brian Lilley and I watched so you didn’t have to. Some of my Kinsellian debate rules: People don’t watch debates to have their minds changed — they watch to have their choice ratified. By that standard, Mark Carney did what he had to do. He went into the debate...

globalnews.ca / Trump and U.S. trade war take spotlight in French leaders’ debate

In the French language election debate Wednesday night, the four main federal party leaders were asked to lay out policy priorities that have nothing with the United States.

ottawacitizen.com / Who won the French-language leaders' debate?

Mark Carney, Pierre Poilievre, Jagmeet Singh and Yves-François Blanchet faced each other for the first of two national leaders' debates. Our pundits tell you what we learned.

ledevoir.com / Au débat des chefs, Mark Carney plaide pour un mandat fort

Blanchet et Singh ont, pour leur part, plaidé en faveur d’un gouvernement minoritaire dans le contexte tarifaire actuel.

25 stories from 14 sources in 2 days ago #politics #federal #publicpolicy #trade #globaltrade #foreignpolicy #quebec #carney #singh #poilievre #economy #elections #liberals #culture #pipelines #environment #infrastructure #energy

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