The Liberal and Conservative leaders again courted the suburbs of the Greater Toronto Area on Saturday, which will play a crucial role in the federal election on September 20. However, some controversies have overshadowed their passage through the region.
On this 28th day of the election campaign, Justin trudeau was overtaken by the “SNC-Lavalin affair”. Daily Globe and Mail on Saturday published an excerpt from the forthcoming book by former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Jody Wilson-Raybould.
She recounts two private meetings held with Mr. Trudeau in 2019 where he allegedly encouraged her to lie about the pressures undergone within the cabinet. Ms. Wilson-Raybould has always maintained that Mr. Trudeau’s entourage tried to influence her in order to offer a way out for the Montreal firm, accused of corruption, and thus avoid a trial.
Called to react to the allegations of his former attorney general, the Liberal leader denied everything.
“These allegations are false. It is not something that I have done or that I would do. I think people know that over the past two years, we have discussed at length all these issues, ”said Mr. Trudeau, who was in Mississauga, Ontario.
The Conservatives have not failed to bounce back on this affair. Conservative candidate Michael Barret called Wilson-Raybould’s claim “extremely worrying, but not surprising”.
“Justin Trudeau doesn’t believe the rules apply to him or to the Liberal Party of Canada », He reacted.
Islamophobic remarks and double vaccination
Also passing in the suburbs of Toronto to announce in particular measures to promote home ownership, Mr. O’Toole had to answer questions about Islamophobic comments and vaccination.
He argued that “racism and Islamophobia have no place in the Conservative Party of Canada or in [sa] campaign “.
The statement comes after a Conservative candidate from Nova Scotia, Steven Cotter, apologized for Islamophobic posts on social media. Lisa Robinson, candidate for Beaches-East York, Ont., Also had to explain herself over Islamophobic tweets published in 2017.
Ms. Robinson maintains that the account in question was not hers and rather was a fake account. The Conservative Party still dumped her on Friday, unlike candidate Steven Cotter.
On the issue of vaccination, Mr. O’Toole appeared to give tacit approval to Conservative candidates who are not adequately vaccinated against COVID-19 to campaign in retirement homes, provided they follow the guidelines. public health measures.
The question arose after Conservative Peterborough-Kawartha candidate Michelle Ferreri posted photos of herself on social media during a visit to a retirement home when she had received only ‘a single dose.
Mr O’Toole ensured all measures were being followed, including vaccines, daily rapid tests, mask wearing and physical distancing.
The Debates Committee criticized
For his part, the Bloc leader Yves-Francois Blanchet questioned the existence of the Leaders’ Debates Commission, which has been facing criticism since Thursday evening because of a question deemed anti-Quebec.
Mr. Blanchet suggests that the next debates should rather be organized by the media themselves. The commission was created to put an end to party machinations to control how, when, on what topics and with whom leaders would debate during election campaigns.
“That the debate be organized by the media,” he said at a press conference on Saturday in Sherbrooke.
In a question to the head of Bloc Quebecois, during the debate in English, the moderator described the law on secularism and the bill to strengthen the French language as “discriminatory”
Mr. Blanchet acknowledges that he may be winning in this controversy and that there may be an “effect” in the current campaign.
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