Federal leaders hope to win over Quebec voters in first election debate of 2021

In hopes of courting voters in Quebec, four party leaders will square off in French for their first televised debate in the federal election campaign Thursday night.

New Democrat Jagmeet Singh, Conservative Erin O’Toole, Yves-François Blanchet of the Bloc Québécois and Liberal Justin Trudeau will be on stage for the highly anticipated event hosted by TVA network.

The first debate of the campaign starts at 8 p.m. ET in Montreal. It involves a series of face-to-face encounters between two people at a time, which gives way to longer exchanges.

They are vying to charm Quebecers ahead of polls opening later this month. Singh is eying a comeback and O’Toole is looking to make grounds in the province, while Trudeau and Blanchet are aiming to boost their seat count.

Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University, explained what unfolds can alter the race in the province and outside of it.

“It’s important within Quebec since it’s very Quebec centric, it’s a Quebec network, it’s in French so many Quebecers will be watching,” he said. “But francophones from outside the province and really political junkies who know French from outside Quebec are also likely to watch.

“This is the first debate of the campaign across the country… so I think it’s important and people outside Quebec will pay attention to what happens.”

The Green Party’s Annamie Paul and the People’s Party’s Maxime Bernier were not invited to participate in the TVA event.

The first debate comes midway through the campaign, with Canadians heading to the polls in less than three weeks on Sept. 20.

Federal leaders will face off again next week in two official debates organized by the Leaders’ Debates Commission.

Those debates will include the leaders of the five major parties. The French-language debate will air Sept. 8 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET. while the English debate will take place the next day from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET on Sept. 9.

More to come.

—With files from Global News’ Miranda Anthistle and The Canadian Press

by Global News