Opinion

Justin Ling: O’Toole found himself on the defensive in Wednesday’s leaders debate, pitching things that were nowhere to be found in his five-year spending document

Stephen Maher: Trudeau and O’Toole—two leaders fighting for their political careers—stood out in a debate that may have been short on substance but not drama

Andrew MacDougall: It’s the ‘most important election since 1945’ and we’ve been reduced to the two main parties shouting about a problem Canada doesn’t have

Stephen Maher: If O’Toole hopes to keep his ’freight train’ on the tracks, he’ll need to address a lot of tough issues about the economy, climate, race and gun control

Andrew MacDougall: The Trudeau of today isn’t the same weapon as the Trudeau of 2015. Why, then, are the Liberals still so Trudeau-centric in 2021?

Justin Ling: The Liberals’ platform offers little to tackle Canada’s most deadly epidemic

Andrew MacDougall: The Liberals may try to make the ugly protests against Trudeau look like Erin O’Toole’s fault—and there’s a good chance it will backfire

Niigaan Sinclair: In 2015, Indigenous voters helped the Liberals win a majority. But most of Trudeau’s success on Indigenous issues came after 2019, in a minority government.

Bruce Anderson: While there’s a voter-rich battle to their left, Liberals must notice O’Toole is relaunching the fight for the centre that his predecessors weren’t interested in

Andrew MacDougall: The Liberals’ 2015 majority-winning campaign was a masterclass in tone against the snippy Tories. In this campaign, it’s all turned around.