Canada

Five out of six Conservative leadership contenders have expressed support for a third official debate, with the perceived front-runner the sole holdout.

One of Canada’s most glorious political traditions is that we regularly force our politicians to answer questions and conduct debates in languages that they do not fully understand.

Wednesday night’s debate in French marked the last of the formal, party-organized debates for the Conservative leadership. But that shouldn’t stop these candidates from getting on a public stage again.

People are right to wonder at this refusal why these particular candidates (and former candidates, such as the letter writer) seem so keen to justify their sudden departure from a longstanding democratic tradition.

The six candidates vying for the Conservative Party's top job sparred in the last official debate of the leadership campaign on Wednesday — clashing over everything from the trucker convoy to bitcoin and tax cuts in a fiery matchup in a Laval, Que., banquet hall.

Candidates competing to lead the federal Conservatives squared off over contentious language laws, immigration, inflation and the trucker convoy in the race’s only French-language debate Wednesday night.

With only one candidate expected to show up, a televised debate showcasing Hamilton Centre provincial election hopefuls has been cancelled.

The Haldimand mayor has been a no-show at three all-candidates meetings and has ducked numerous media requests for interviews.

Quebec Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade has made a plea to the English-language media consortium to reschedule its election debate, writing in a Friday letter that such events are "essential" to democracy.

Why do we have leaders’ debates?

Candidates so deferential to their bosses, so willing to short-change the people of their ridings, are a discredit to democracy and an embarrassment to themselves.

Newmarket-Aurora Progressive Conservative candidate Dawn Gallagher Murphy, who is hoping to replace departing incumbent Health Minister Christine Elliott, did not attend the debate due to a “scheduling conflict."