‘Stop going to Florida’: Liberal leadership candidates outline plans to hit back at Trump during English debate
Posted February 25, 2025 4:00 am.
Last Updated February 25, 2025 11:32 pm.
For the second day in a row, U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade threats were the focus of many moments of the Liberal leadership debate in Montreal Tuesday.
Twenty-four hours after debating in French on the same stage, candidates Mark Carney, Chrystia Freeland, Karina Gould and Frank Baylis kicked off the English-language debate with their plan for standing up to Trump, who has threatened sweeping tariffs next week.
Overall, the candidates drew sharper contrasts with each other than they did in Monday’s French debate — during which few of the candidates went on the offensive and many agreed with one another — though they stopped short of launching outright attacks.
Frontrunner Mark Carney, who is leading in the polls, says Canada must impose dollar-for-dollar tariffs. “Maximum impact on the United States, minimal impact here in Canada,” Carney said.
The former Bank of Canada governor said Canada must leverage its resources and strengthen its economy by working with like-minded countries. He said the United States is already showing signs of feeling the economic impact of Trump’s policies and that Canada “will amplify that.”
Carney added Canada’s provinces and territories need to unite to build the entire country’s economy.
Former finance minister Freeland, repeating many talking points from Monday’s debate, called Trump the biggest threat to Canada since World War II and said she was the right candidate to outwit him and stand up to him.
She says Canada can leverage its position because the U.S. depends on Canada’s resources, adding lobby groups such as the American Farm Bureau would quickly complain to Trump about the Canadian products they need becoming too expensive.
“That reaction, that pain, will cause Trump, ultimately, to back down, just like he did last time,” Freeland said, citing her past involvement in dealing with the first Trump administration’s tariffs.
Freeland also proposed dollar-for-dollar retaliation, and said she would hit American industries like Wisconsin dairy and Florida orange juice. She also said she would impose counter-tariffs on Trump’s friends like Elon Musk’s Tesla. “If you hit us, we will hit back,” she said.
Freeland added she would work with countries like Panama, Mexico and Denmark — countries that have also had their sovereignty threatened — to create a common front and turn Canada into a leader of a new world order where the Americans are no longer at the top.
Former House leader Gould said Canada must leverage the resources the U.S. needs, and urged Canadians to break ties with their southern neighbour by not travelling to Florida and not buying Florida orange juice.
“You can’t bring a calculator to a knife fight,” Gould said. “You have to fight very strongly and with the right tools and that’s exactly what I’m going to do as prime minister.”
Gould said her first move as prime minister would be to gather all the provinces and territories together and come up with a plan to counter Trump’s tariffs.
Former MP and Montreal businessman Baylis, who says he knows the mindset of “bullies” like Trump after four decades in business, said he would counter the U.S. president’s “tariffs bluff.”
“I can predict what he’ll do and then I can help build our defences to stop him from doing those things and also counterattack, which unfortunately is going to be necessary,” Baylis said.
Baylis says he would take Canada’s $1.3 billion border enforcement offer — which was announced to pacify Trump’s border and fentanyl concerns — off the table. He also said he would travel to Mexico and make a deal with President Claudia Sheinbaum.
“He’s not going to stop until he gets the lesson that he can’t get away with this,” Baylis said.
Tuesday’s debate, which was was moderated by former CBC journalist Hannah Thibodeau of Global Public Affairs, was the candidates’ last opportunity to confront the opposition and possibly shake up the race. Recent polls suggest the Liberals gain significant traction if Carney becomes leader.
On Wednesday, Liberal party members will be able to start casting advance votes for the person who will replace Justin Trudeau at the top of the party.
Home ownership
To make home ownership more feasible for more Canadians, Gould says she would create an industrial housing strategy, “supercharge” housing investments, and boost the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI).
Freeland says she would cut taxes for first-time home buyers and increase the amount people can put in their First Home Savings Account.
Baylis says he would create jobs and get the cost of living under control. He says he would increase supports for social housing and first-time home buyers.
Carney says Canada should double the rate of home building through the use of technology and by cutting developer fees and increasing incomes. He says he would remove GST on first-time home purchases. “We’re millions of homes short in this country,” Carney said.
Consumer carbon tax
Carney says he would end the consumer carbon tax because it has become “too divisive” and there are “better ways” to accomplish emissions reductions, including having big polluters pay.
Freeland says she would end the consumer carbon tax because “democracy is about listening to people” and Canadians don’t think the policy works for them.
Baylis says the carbon tax isn’t working and that he would adapt it by investing funds in programs and Canadian companies that can find ways to fight climate change directly.
Gould has said that while she won’t cancel the consumer carbon tax, she would cancel the increase planned for April 1.
Access to physicians
Carney, Freeland and Gould say the government needs to make it easier for health professionals to work across the country and for foreign health professionals to work in Canada.
Baylis says Canada needs to give nurse practitioners a greater role in the system, expand pharmacists’ scope of practice and invest in home care.
Managing Canada’s budget
Freeland says she would harness the recent wave of Canadian patriotism to build a stronger economy with more jobs and investment.
Baylis says he would bring fiscal discipline back to Ottawa, boost productivity in government and build two new gas pipelines to help Canada move away from reliance on the U.S. market.
Carney says it’s important to focus on the outcomes of programs, and to spend less and invest more.
Freeland says it’s crucial to invest in physical and social infrastructure in order to increase productivity.
Defence spending
The candidates were asked if they would match the U.K.’s plan to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2027.
Carney says he will spend defence dollars as “rapidly as possible.” Freeland says she plans to hit two per cent by 2027.
Baylis says he doesn’t think reaching two per cent in three or four years is “doable” but members of the Canadian Armed Forces should be paid better and there should be more domestic investment in defence research and development.
Gould says she’s committed to increasing defence spending by 2027 by boosting salaries for military personnel, and calls for the appointment of a “procurement czar.”
–With files from The Canadian Press
