Tuesday April 15, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Also see: Five topics for federal leaders debates April 16 & 17
The federal leaders debate in French that is scheduled for live broadcast on Wednesday April 16 has been shifted to a 6 pm ET (3 pm PT) start.
The previous start time was 8 pm ET (5 pm PT).
The previous time was perceived as a significant audience-exposure conflict with the broadcast of the NHL hockey game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Montréal Canadiens.
Pressure was put on the Leaders’ Debates Commission by some of the political parties to change the game time. The expectation is that the time adjustment will see possibly millions more viewers for the debate.
Dates, times and format:
- There are two debates – one in French (on Wednesday April 16 at 6 pm ET / 3 pm PT) and one in English (Thursday April 17 at 7 pm ET / 4 pm PT). NOTE: On April 15, the French debate time was changed (from 8 pm ET to 6 pm ET) to avoid live broadcast time conflict with a hockey game.
- Both debates will be broadcast live by CBC from the atrium of Maison de Radio-Canada in Montreal; other broadcasters and media organizations can distribute the debate on their platforms.
- Debate duration is 2 hours without commercial interruption.
- Debate format is open debate; questions will be asked by a single moderator (TVO journalist Steve Paikin to host the English-language debate. Radio-Canada’s Patrice Roy will host the French-language debate). This differs from 2021 when the format was seen by the organizing Commission to have been “too rigid, too complex, too confusing, involved too many journalists on stage and did not sufficiently generate debate between the leaders”.
- Debate themes will vary slightly between the French and English debates.
Participants:
The federal leaders who will be participating in both debates (French and English) are:
- Liberal – Mark Carney
- Conservative – Pierre Poilievre
- NDP – Jagmeet Singh
- Bloc Quebecois – Yves-Francois Blanchet
- Green – Jonathan Pedneault
Debate topics:
French debate (Wednesday April 16 – 6 pm ET / 3 pm PT)
- Coût de la vie (Cost of living)
- Énergie et climat (Energy and climate)
- Guerre commerciale (Trade war)
- Identité et souveraineté (Identity and sovereignty)
- Immigration et affaires étrangères (Immigration and foreign affairs)
English debate (Thursday April 17 – 7 pm ET / 4 PT)
- Affordability and the cost of living
- Energy and climate
- Leading in a crisis
- Public safety and security
- Tariffs and threats to Canada
===== RELATED:
- Five topics for federal leaders debates April 16 & 17 (April 14, 2025)
- NEWS SECTIONS: CANADA-NATIONAL | CANADA-USA | TARIFFS & TRADE | CANADIAN FEDERAL ELECTION 2025
- CALENDAR of ELECTION NEWS & DATES
- COMMUNITY EVENTS CALENDAR