The Liberals’ English-language debate was held last night, and it was a much more lively affair, given that they weren’t speaking in very slow and deliberate French to get their points across. The first few minutes were a complete English-dub replay of Monday’s debate, with the exact same opening statements and first responses to the same question, so it took them a while to actually get to something new, but the longer it went on, the more annoyed I started to get at some of the absolute inanities that were on display. (Here are liveblogs from the Star and The Canadian Press, while I was live-tweeting Bluesky here).

One of the early topics was Canada’s place in the world, and after the initial chest-thumping about Trump, they got into things like NATO targets. Chrystia Freeland was probably the most clear-eyed here, talking about building a new democratic world order with allies that included the UK and France because they have nuclear capabilities (which was a sign of how serious this is), because America is no longer the “leader of the free world.” But when discussing spending to hit NATO targets, everyone was quick to say that they didn’t want those dollars going to American companies, but nobody seemed to have much of an idea of just what the Canadian defence industry was capable of producing for our needs, or the fact that we need to look to other allies because our defence industry is not large and can’t produce a lot of things we need quickly (lest we start buying into vapourware that companies like Bombardier will promise but have no guaranteed ability to deliver on). Oh, and Karina Gould deserves a time-out for pitching a “procurement czar.” No! Stop with this American bullshit!

The cost-of-living segment was…unenlightening, and had some of the worst pitches. Chrystia Freeland wants to cut red tape (how? You’ve had nine years!), and Karina Gould wants to modernise social services (provincial jurisdiction) and bring in a basic income (not going to work—there is research to prove it). There was a question on how to improve productivity that nobody could give an actual answer to except to wave their hands and say “AI,” as though it’s a magic incantation.

The topic that broke my brain completely was asking them how they could work with provinces to increase the number of doctors. Only Gould gave something resembling a coherent answer here. And again, when the topic changed to the carbon levy, everyone on the stage but Gould was utterly incoherent about how they would replace it (Gould would keep the levy but freeze it).

The final question was asking how they would differentiate themselves from Trudeau, and at first Freeland ignored the question, Gould talked around it before bringing up the fact that the party needs to get back to the grassroots, Baylis said he was going to be “focused on the economy” while Carney said he would be “laser-focused on the economy,” before adding that he’s very hands-on, and has heard from the supporters in caucus that Trudeau didn’t build many relationships with MPs, which he would do. The moderator circled back to Freeland, who talked about the campaign being a “personal liberation,” and that her style of leadership isn’t to be a “one-man band,” which is a pretty big repudiation of Trudeau’s leadership style (though I would say it’s more like a two-man band, because it’s more of a joint Trudeau-Katie Telford effort).

Overall, it was a mixed bag, and I couldn’t really determine someone I felt was a winner. Chrystia Freeland had some of the strongest responses, but some of the weakest delivery and framing of responses, and was very invested in playing nice in order to get second-place votes (because this is a ranked ballot). Gould was strong on many responses, but completely out to lunch on others, which tainted her credibility. Mark Carney kept repeating that he wants to “build the economy.” Over and over and again. Constantly. He still resorted largely to platitudes, and didn’t seem to have a good grasp of a lot of files because they have been out of his bailiwick, and his attempt at attacking Poilievre got cringey in place (Poilievre worships Trump? Really?) And then there was Frank Baylis, who kept reminding us that he’s a businessman. Over and over again, but his constant bizarre refrains about strengthening the dollar (at the expense of our exports?) and the whole thing about Ireland were just completely out to lunch, to say nothing about the fantasy economics of his pipeline plans.

Maybe I’m being too harsh of a critic, but nobody came out ahead.

Ukraine Dispatch

Another overnight attack on the Kyiv region has killed one person, injured four, and set several houses on fire. There also appears to be some progress on a critical minerals deal between the US and Ukraine, but we’ll see if it actually happens.

https://twitter.com/defenceu/status/1894322734047310319

Trump says Russian oligarchs could be eligible for $5 million US 'gold card.'

"I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people," Trump told reporters on Feb. 25.https://t.co/mk78mdCExr

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) February 26, 2025

Good reads:

• First Trump says he doesn’t need Canadian oil and wants to tariff it, but then he wants to build Keystone XL (which Danielle Smith and Scott Moe swooned over).
• The Trump administration is “clarifying” that across-the-board tariffs may not come next week, but the so-called “reciprocal” tariffs might.
• David McGuinty is headed back to Washington with his new Fentanyl Commissioner for more meetings on the fight against fentanyl.
• Mélanie Joly says she wants deeper intelligence-sharing with European allies now that the US is no longer reliable.
• The federal government is considering having the Competition Bureau investigate food pricing in the North, given the subsidies aren’t having much impact.
• The planned naval refuelling facility in Nanisivik continues to be delayed, and is in limbo because of ongoing construction issues.
• Here is a behind-the-scenes look at Poilievre’s shift toward “Canada First” from his previous slogans (but it’s not actually a pivot).
• There is some kind of meltdown happening with the people around Conservative MP Jake Steward, and accusations his office is “toxic and manipulative.”
• Newfoundland and Labrador premier Andrew Furey announced his resignation, hastened in party by a stupid law in the province around changing premiers.
• One Alberta minister resigned in protest over the handling of the AHS corruption allegations, and says there is more corrupt procurement across the board.
• Emmett Macfarlane despairs at the state of the Ontario election.
• Althia Raj offers five things she learned about Carney from the French debate.
• My column points out that no one can remove Elon Musk’s citizenship, as it’s birthright, and it would be a bad precedent, but there are better things we can do.

Odds and ends:

And we're not even through Tuesday. https://t.co/HqxNtqUehA

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 25, 2025

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