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The Leaders' Debates Commission is the independent
Canadian government The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes ministers of the Crown ( ...
agency which is charged with organizing leaders' debates during federal elections in Canada. In 2018, the commission was established to organize two debates, one in English and one in French, between the leaders of eligible political parties during the
2019 Canadian federal election The 2019 Canadian federal election was held on October 21, 2019. Members of the House of Commons were elected to the 43rd Canadian Parliament. In keeping with the maximum four-year term under a 2007 amendment to the ''Canada Elections Act'', ...
. Following the 2019 election, the Commission released a report to Parliament containing recommendations for future election debates, including that itself be charged with organizing future debates and tasked with determining the criteria for a leader to be invited to debates.


Background

Prior to the creation of the commission, Canadian leaders' debates were organized and held by a consortium of the main television networks. In 2015,
Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...
, then leader of the Conservative Party, said he would not participate in debates organized by the consortium and instead participate in a series of independently organized debates. While he later agreed to participate in a French language debate hosted by the consortium, no English language debate was hosted by the consortium due to the resulting uncertainty. Other independently hosted debates occurred during the 2015 election campaign, but reached much smaller audiences than previous consortium debates.


Mandate

The commission is tasked with holding two official debates during the 2019 federal election. Following the election, it is also required to provide a report to
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
on the leaders' debates and make recommendations for how future leaders debates should be conducted.


Composition

The position of Debates’ Commissioner is currently vacant. Former
Governor General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...
David Johnston served as the Commissioner until he resigned in March 2023 to become the Special Rapporteur for Election Interference. Journalist Michel Cormier serves as the commissions' executive director. The body also has a seven person advisory board. The current members are former Members of Parliament John Manley,
Megan Leslie Megan Anissa Leslie (born September 29, 1973) is a Canadian politician and environmental advocate. She is the president and CEO of World Wildlife Fund Canada, World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWFC) and on the advisory board of the Leaders' Debates C ...
, and Deborah Grey, history professor Chad Gaffield, DMZ Executive Director Abdullah Snobar, judge Louise Otis and
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) is a group of Television in Canada, Canadian Specialty channel, specialty television channels based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The channels broadcast programming produced by or highlighting Indigenous p ...
CEO Jean LaRose. The first meeting of the advisory board took place on March 26, 2019.


2019 debates

The English language debate took place on October 7 and the French on October 10. Both debates took place at the
Canadian Museum of History The Canadian Museum of History () is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of Canada, as well as support related res ...
in
Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...
,
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
.


Production

Following the Commission's request for proposal, the Canadian Debate Production Partnership was selected to produce the debates. The CDPP consisted of a consortium of English- and French-language broadcasters and newspapers:
CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...
/
Radio-Canada Radio-Canada may refer to: * CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation *Ici Radio-Canada Télé, the CBC's main French-language television network *Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) i ...
,
Global News Global News is the news and Current affairs (news format), current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as ...
,
CTV News CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name ''CTV News'' is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os), which are closely tied to the nationa ...
, the ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
'', '' HuffPost Canada/Quebec'', '' La Presse'', ''
Le Devoir (, ) is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. is one of few independent large-circulation newspapers in Quebec ...
'', and '' L'Actualité''. The English debate was moderated by Rosemary Barton (
CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...
), Susan Delacourt (''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
''), Dawna Friesen (
Global News Global News is the news and Current affairs (news format), current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as ...
), Lisa LaFlamme (
CTV News CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name ''CTV News'' is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os), which are closely tied to the nationa ...
) and
Althia Raj Althia Raj is a Canadian political journalist and a member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. She is a regular columnist with the Toronto Star. Career She was formerly the Ottawa Bureau Chief for ''HuffPost Canada'', where she managed the Que ...
('' HuffPost Canada''), each responsible for a portion of the debate. The French moderator was Patrice Roy (
Ici Radio-Canada Télé Ici Radio-Canada Télé (stylized as ICI Radio-Canada Télé, and sometimes abbreviated as Ici Télé) is a Television in Canada, Canadian Canadian French, French-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by the Can ...
), who was assisted by several journalists from prominent Quebec newspapers.


Leaders invited

The government established rules in 2018 to determine which party leaders are invited to the official debates. To be invited a party must satisfy two of the following: # Have at least one member elected under the party's banner; # Nominate candidates to run in at least 90% of all ridings; and # Have captured at least 4% of the votes in the previous election or be considered by the commissioner to have a legitimate chance to win seats in the current election, based on public opinion polls. In November 2018, Minister of Democratic Institutions Karina Gould said that
Maxime Bernier Maxime Bernier (; born January 18, 1963) is a Canadian politician who is the founder and leader of the People's Party of Canada (PPC). Formerly a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, Conservative Party, Bernier left the caucus in 2018 t ...
would qualify for the debates as leader of the
People's Party of Canada The People's Party of Canada (PPC; ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party was formed by Maxime Bernier in September 2018, shortly after his resignation from the Conservative Party of Canada. It is placed from the right to the far ...
if the party nominated candidates in 90% of ridings. On August 12, 2019, the Commissioner extended invitations for
Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...
,
Andrew Scheer Andrew James Scheer (born May 20, 1979) is a Canadian politician who is the Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada), leader of the Opposition since 2025 and previously from 2017 to 2020 as Leader of the Conservative Party (Canada), leader of ...
, Jagmeet Singh, Elizabeth May and Yves-François Blanchet to attend. He also sent a letter to
Maxime Bernier Maxime Bernier (; born January 18, 1963) is a Canadian politician who is the founder and leader of the People's Party of Canada (PPC). Formerly a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, Conservative Party, Bernier left the caucus in 2018 t ...
indicating that he did not qualify for the debates at this time, and asking for additional information from the People's Party so that a final decision could be reached by September 16. Bernier criticized the decision saying that it would not be a "real debate" without him. On September 16, following submission of further information from the People's Party, the Commissioner determined that "more than one candidate endorsed by the party has a reasonable chance to be elected" and therefore Bernier would be invited to the debates.


Content of debates

English debate: # Affordability and economic insecurity # National and global leadership # Indigenous issues # Polarization human rights, and immigration # Environment and energy French debate: # The economy and finances # Environment and energy # Foreign policy and immigration # Ethics and governance # Service to citizens On July 17, protesters gathered in cities across Canada calling for a leaders' debate to be held on the topic of
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
. The protests were directed at
CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...
after organizers were told that broadcasters not the commission would determine the questions and topics of the debates. In response to the protests, the CBC released a statement saying that the commission and the editorial group at the broadcaster ultimately selected to host the debates would be responsible for making such determinations. On August 8, 2019, organizers delivered a petition with 48,000 signatures to the CBC.


2020 report

In June 2020, the Commission released its report reviewing the 2019 election debates and making recommendations for future debates. The report recommended a permanent and publicly funded commission be tasked with organizing two debates every election. It also called for the head of the commission to be selected through consultation with all political parties, and for the commission, not the government to set the criteria for participation in future election debates.


2021 debates

The English language debate in 2021 was criticized by former NDP strategist Robin Sears for its format. Sears alleged that participants were not given enough time to respond to each question and that reporters became stars of the debates rather than facilitating debate among the leaders. The debate started off with a question from moderator Sachi Kurl of Angus Reid posed to Yves-François Blanchet which was called offensive for appearing to label Quebecers as racist. This led to calls by political commentators for the Leaders' Debates Commission to be reformed and allow effective debate among the leaders.


2022 report

In its May 2022 report, the commission recommended various improvements for future debates, and that it remain a permanent publicly funded entity to organize leaders' debates.


2025 debates

On April 1, 2025, the Commission announced that it had invited the leaders of the Bloc Québécois, Conservative Party, Green Party, Liberal Party, and New Democratic Party to the 2025 debates. Invitations were issued on the basis of meeting at least two of three conditions: having at least one sitting MP, recording at least 4% support in national opinion polling, and endorsing candidates in at least 90 percent of ridings. The Green Party's invitation was rescinded on April 16 as it ultimately ran candidates in 232 ridings (less than 70 percent) despite earlier submitting to the Commission that it would run candidates in every riding. The People's Party was not invited, as it did not meet the criteria for either holding a seat in Parliament or polling at least 4%. On April 15, the leaders of the Bloc Québécois and the NDP suggested rescheduling the French language debate because of the debate coinciding with the final
hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...
game of the
Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...
' regular season, after it became clear the game would decide whether the Canadiens would make the
playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
. The Commission declined to reschedule the debate to a different day, but agreed to move the start time two hours earlier to 6:00 pm EDT. A post-debate news scrum occurred after the French language debate, with independent and local journalists invited to question candidates, along with mass news media. Later, David Cochrane of
CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...
asked Michel Cormier, the debate commission’s executive director, about the fairness of the distribution of questions among outlets and the type of questions asked. Cormier stated, "There's only so much we can do to control free speech." The question period following the English Federal Leaders' Debate in Montreal on Thursday April 17, 2025, was cancelled by the commission following a disturbance in the media centre by Rebel News-affiliated journalists.


References


External links

* {{authority control Canadian federal elections Leaders' debates Federal departments and agencies of Canada Bilingualism in Canada Mass media regulation in Canada Election agencies in Canada