Carney says there’s a role for the debates commission, Blanchet calls for abolishment

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This article was published 18/04/2025 (198 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NIAGARA FALLS – Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said Friday the national Leaders’ Debates Commission should be abolished following problems with the two recent national events in Montreal.

At a news conference Friday morning at a Montreal hotel Blanchet, speaking in French, denounced the commission’s decision to cancel scrums with reporters after Thursday’s English language debate. He said millions of dollars were wasted on a commission that is “between harmful and useless.”

Liberal Leader Mark Carney said he thought the structure and moderation of the debates themselves was excellent, but agreed there were problems that may need to be addressed.

“I think there is value though, in having an independent group that sets the terms of this,” Carney said at a campaign event in Niagara Falls, Ont. 

“I would suggest that probably the best thing is a period of reflection, and then the Parliament reflects and has feedback or a process to feedback on how things can be improved.”

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, campaigning in Quebec, said for now it’s time to focus on the campaign but “maybe we can take a harder look at (the commission) after the election.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, at a campaign tour event in Montreal, said the question from the debate was about whether the Liberals deserve a fourth term in office, and did not answer what he thought about the commission itself.

“We should focus on the issues that affect the real life of the real world,” he said in French.

The commission was created as an independent government entity in 2018 to oversee the rules and production of two nationally televised leaders’ debates during federal election campaigns.

It sets criteria for which parties get represented on the stage and accredits media organizations to attend and cover the debates.

The commission made several controversial decisions this week, including moving the time of the French debate due to the Montreal Canadiens hockey game and removing the Green Party from the event less than 12 hours before the first debate was to begin.

It said the party purposely reduced its number of candidates for strategic reasons after telling the commission it would run a candidate in every riding. The number of candidates a party runs is one of the criteria that can gain a party accreditation for the debate, along with national polling numbers and having held at least one seat in the House of Commons in the previous Parliament. Parties must meet two of the three.

The Greens have refuted the assertion they strategically ran fewer candidates. The party told the commission four weeks ago it would run 343 candidates but only has 232 on the ballots now.

The biggest problems for the debate surrounded media access and accreditation.

The head of the Leaders’ Debates Commission cancelled a planned question-and-answer session between journalists and party leaders scheduled to take place after the English debate, following heated exchanges between reporters and representatives of the right-wing media group Rebel News.

That confrontation came after Rebel employees dominated the microphone during scrums following the French language debate on April 16, after receiving more passes to attend the scrums than most other media organizations.

Rebel successfully sued the commission to gain media access to debates in both 2019 and 2021 after the commission ruled it did not meet the criteria of news because it engaged in advocacy and had conflicts of interest.

Rebel posted on its website Wednesday that it had put legal pressure on the commission to give it greater access to the debates this time and was allowed to have five reporters ask questions. Other organizations were at first given just one pass.

Michel Cormier, the commission’s executive director, said Thursday he was not aware that Rebel News had registered as an official third party in the federal election, adding there may have been a different decision had he known. 

The registration is listed on Elections Canada’s website which documents all third parties that register to advocate on behalf of a party, candidate or issue during the campaign. The registrations are required to prevent an outsized influence from well-funded individuals or entities during the writ period.

Both Rebel News and an entity known as ForCanada, run by Rebel’s co-founder and CEO Ezra Levant, registerd as third parties. ForCanada has hired a truck with anti-Carney advertisements on it that appears at campaign events.

Blanchet denounced the fact that he was not able to address his fellow citizens in French after the debate. He said last night’s events were “shameful” and made the leaders look like “fools” as he said a few “far-right activists” took control of an event which is supposed to be a “high moment for democracy.”

Carney said it was unfortunate that the scrums had to be cancelled.

“It  is absolutely right and necessary and appropriate after the debate to take your questions,” Carney told reporters Friday.

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But he would not weigh in on whether press credentials were handed out appropriately, even though he said he has “many reservations about some of these organizations.”

“It makes me uncomfortable for me to be judging on media quality in that regard. I would rather err on having more robust questioning than the other side,” he said.

Singh said organizations like Rebel News purposely spread disinformation, which is dangerous to democracy and society.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2025.

— With files from Patrice Bergeron in Longueuil, Que., and Sidhartha Banerjee in Montreal