Fact-checking the English federal leaders' debate
CBC News sorts the bona fide from the bogus as five federal leaders duke it out in Gatineau
Five federal party leaders took to the stage Thursday night at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau for the first, and only, English debate of the 2021 federal election campaign.
Justin Trudeau, Erin O'Toole, Jagmeet Singh, Yves-François Blanchet and Annamie Paul had a lot to say on a range of subjects — and CBC News has been listening closely for any falsehoods.
Here are some of the more notable claims and CBC's evaluations of them.
On sexual misconduct
"Yes, these problems continue in workplaces across the country, particularly in the military. That's unacceptable, which is why we've taken even stronger measures."
— Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau
This has been a difficult subject for the Trudeau government over the past year and during the campaign.
Trudeau didn't specify what measures he was talking about, but female staffers who have worked with Raj Saini, a Liberal MP who represented Kitchener Centre, might dispute this.
A number of staffers allege that Saini made sexual advances and said inappropriate comments to them. Saini denies the allegations; he eventually terminated his candidacy in Kitchener Centre.
One of those staffers, who spoke to CBC News under the condition of anonymity, said that a workplace assessment into Saini's office working conditions lacked rigour. She said that although her complaints prompted the workplace assessment, she was not allowed to participate in it.
She was later dismissed from her job at Saini's office. A dismissal letter she showed CBC said she "repeatedly breached" her "duty of good faith and loyalty" to her employer through "persistent and incessant unwelcome and disparaging comments toward the MP."
The House of Commons has agreed to review that workplace assessment.
The Trudeau government has launched an external review of sexual misconduct in the military, led by former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour. While the government has agreed to adopt the measures she suggests while the review is ongoing, none have been adopted yet.
Many sexual assault victims and veterans have called for an external reporting system on sexual misconduct outside of the military chain of command. Arbour's review will look at that.
On greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
"You have never made a target, Mr. Trudeau."
— Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole
The Trudeau government claims that it can meet its 2030 Paris Climate Agreement target, which is an emissions reduction of 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels. Jagmeet Singh and the NDP have attacked Trudeau and the Liberals on GHG emissions, saying that emissions have only risen since the Trudeau government signed on to the agreement in 2016.
WATCH | Trudeau, O'Toole debate climate change
This is true, according to official statistics on GHG emissions. Emissions have risen consistently from 2016 to 2019, but only by a small amount — from 707 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent to 730 in 2019. Emissions are also rising in Canada while they are on a downward trajectory in the United States, U.K. and EU.
But experts have told CBC News that this line of attack is misleading. Policies introduced by the government to reduce emissions, such as carbon pricing in 2019, will have an effect on GHG emissions, but not immediately. That means that the government could still meet the target — and it certainly hasn't "missed" a target that's still in the future.
We also don't have GHG emissions statistics yet for 2020 — a year during which they likely went down due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On long-term care
"Unlike Mr. Trudeau and Mr. O'Toole, who believe in private long-term care delivery, we want to get out profit ... from the delivery of long-term care"
— NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh
The NDP did introduce a motion in the House of Commons to abolish for-profit long-term care homes.
The Liberals, Conservatives and Bloc voted against it, citing provincial jurisdiction over long-term care.
On home sales
"Mr. Trudeau, Canadians are worried you are going to be taxing their primary home sales"
— Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole
The Liberals have only pledged to do this for a very limited number of sales — homes that are sold after fewer than 12 months of ownership.
WATCH | Federal leaders debate housing affordability
"We will establish an anti-flipping tax on residential properties, requiring properties to be held for at least 12 months," the Liberal housing platform says.
Even then, there are a lot of ways to get an exemption from this proposed tax, such as a change in employment or divorce.
On health care
"I 100 per cent support our public and universal system. I've said it's paramount."
— Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole
O'Toole has faced many questions throughout the campaign on to what degree he supports private sector involvement in Canadian health care, and Thursday night was no different. O'Toole, however, has not said that he wants to change Canada's single-payer health-care system.
"Public and universal elements need to be at the core of our system," O'Toole said during the debate.
O'Toole says he supports the current health system in place but adds that "innovations" from the private sector could improve outcomes. He's said "private, for-profit services could help alleviate the pressure on publicly run facilities, reduce wait times and save money."
This is an approach that some provinces, like Saskatchewan and Quebec, have taken in some areas of health care, such as diagnostic imaging.
"I view innovation as a good thing. I trust the premiers to do what is best for patients in their provinces. If Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario or Quebec want to innovate to provide better health care, I support that," O'Toole said a few weeks prior to the debate.
On reconciliation
"You can't take a knee one day if you're going to take Indigenous kids to court the next."
— NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to Liberal leader Justin Trudeau
The complicated battle before the courts between the federal government and advocates for Indigenous children began in 2007 when the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations filed a complaint under the Canadian Human Rights Act.
WATCH | Singh says Trudeau has not acted on Indigenous calls to justice
They argued that funding was not being distributed in an equitable way and there was systemic underfunding for services for Indigenous children.
In June, a spokesperson for Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said the federal government wants to compensate Indigenous children, but has challenged the jurisdiction of a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal order.
On support for seniors
"What we have seen so far is that Mr. Trudeau and Mr. O'Toole both are going to either cut the help that you receive or put the burden back on people like you."
— NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in response to a viewer question
Singh did not spell out in the debate exactly how he thinks the Liberals or the Conservatives will reduce help for seniors.
The Liberal Party platform includes several promises for seniors including more money for long-term care and doubling the Home Accessibility Tax Credit. When it comes to Old Age Security payments, its platform calls for a 10 per cent increase next year but only for those who are age 75 and older.
The Conservatives would also increase the Home Accessibility Tax Credit — from $10,000 per home to $10,000 a person — and have proposed several other measures to help seniors such as making pensioners a priority in the event a company goes bankrupt or introducing a Canada seniors care benefit.
