EDMONTON — The federal Liberals are threatening to pull out of a leaders debate on foreign policy later this month over concerns that it won't be bilingual as promised.
The debate on foreign policy comes as the campaign has focused on the Syrian refugee issue in Europe, a matter Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau talked about during an event in Toronto Wednesday morning, and then again hours later in a campaign rally speech to supporters in Edmonton.
In a letter sent to the organizers of the Munk Debate on Wednesday, the co-chairs of Trudeau's campaign team said they were reviewing whether to take part in the debate on Sept. 28.
The letter says that organizers promised the debate would be bilingual as a condition of Liberal involvement.
When Liberal officials looked over the format for the debate, they felt there wasn't enough time allocated to debate issues in French. One campaign official said it looked like 15 to 20 per cent of the debate would be in French and the debate moderator was a uniligual anglophone.
"We agreed in principle, under the presumption that this was a bilingual debate; however, this is clearly not a bilingual debate," the letter says.
Liberal officials also say they were concerned with the $95 per ticket price tag to get into the debate audience, as well as preferential treatment for Munk members, leading to what the letter described as an ``exclusive list of Canadians'' who would be able to attend.
"We cannot accept that," reads the letter, signed by campaign co-chairs Katie Telford and Dan Gagnier.
"The days of political leaders auditioning in front of the country's wealthiest elite are behind us. Debates should be open to all Canadians, regardless of where they live or with whom they associate."
Telford and Gagnier wrote that Trudeau would only take part in the debate if organizers met their concerns "in a material way."
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NDP Leader Tom Mulcair speaks to reporters during a press conference following the first federal leaders debate of the 2015 Canadian election campaign in Toronto. (credit:GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Green Party Leader Elizabeth May speaks to reporters during a press conference following the first federal leaders debate on August 6, 2015. (credit:GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau speaks to reporters. (credit:GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Conservative Leader Stephen Harper and his wife Laureen are greeted as they arrive for the first federal leaders debate of the 2015 Canadian election campaign in Toronto on August 6, 2015. (credit:GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
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NDP Leader Tom Mulcair arrives to meet reporters for a press conference in Toronto on August 6, 2015. (credit:GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
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NDP Leader Tom Mulcair waves to supporters as he arrives for the first federal leaders debate. (credit:GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Green Party Leader Elizabeth May greets dignitaries as she arrives for the first federal leaders debate. (credit:GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau greets supporters as he arrives for the first federal leaders debate. (credit:GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau warms up in the ring with Paul Brown during a photo op at Paul Brown Boxfit in Toronto on August 6, 2015 prior to the first election debate. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim)
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NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair Mulcair speaks at a press conference in Toronto on August 6, 2015. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim)
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Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau leaves a rally as he begins campaigns for the upcoming federal election in Mississauga, Ont., on Tuesday, August 4, 2015. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michelle Siu)
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NDP Leader Tom Mulcair delivers a speech during a campaign stop in Montreal on Tuesday, August 4, 2015. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)
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Conservative leader Stephen Harper picks up chicken wings while grocery shopping with his son Ben Tuesday, August 4, 2015 in Toronto. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)
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An anti-Stephen Harper protester blocks the party's campaign bus during a Conservative party federal election rally on Westbury Avenue in Montreal on Sunday, August 2, 2015. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes)
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Anti-Stephen Harper protesters block the party's campaign bus during a Conservative party federal election event on Westbury Avenue in Montreal on Sunday, August 2, 2015. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes)
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Anti-Stephen Harper protesters block the party's campaign bus during a Conservative party federal election event on Westbury Avenue in Montreal on Sunday, August 2, 2015. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes)
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An anti-Stephen Harper protester is detained by police prior to a Conservative party campaign event on Westbury Avenue in Montreal on Sunday, August 2, 2015. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes)
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NDP Leader Tom Mulcair launches his campaign at the Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., after Prime Minister Stephen Harper called an election on Sunday, August 2, 2015. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle)
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Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau speaks during his election campaign launch in Vancouver, B.C., on Sunday August 2, 2015. A federal election will be held on October 19. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)
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Prime Minister Stephen Harper visits Governor General David Johnston, along with his wife Laureen, to dissolve parliament and trigger an election campaign at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Sunday, August 2, 2015. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang)
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Conservative Leader Stephen Harper gets instructions on how to operate a machine that puts the finishing touch to a radiator while touring a industrial parts manufacture Monday, August 3, 2015 in Laval, Que. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)
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Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, right, greets supporters during a campaign stop in Calgary, Alta., Monday, Aug. 3, 2015. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
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NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair has faced some criticism for reportedly talking to the Conservatives in 2007 about advising their team.Mulcair, a former Quebec Liberal, denies he ever intended to run for the Tories.However, several other prominent Canadian politicians have changed their political stripes.(Information courtesy of The Canadian Press' Stephanie Levitz) (credit:CP)
Stephen Harper(35 of73)
According to several biographies of the current Conservative prime minister, when he was in high school in the 1970s, he ran in Liberal circles.The prime minister of the time was Pierre Trudeau, and Harper was recruited by one of his classmates to join his high school Liberal club.But soon after graduation, Harper moved west and as the story goes, lost respect for the elder Trudeau over the implementation of the national energy program, beginning his long road to leader of the Conservative party. (credit:CP)
Bob Rae(36 of73)
Trudeau also prompted Rae to get involved in politics, where he got his first taste of the life volunteering for the Liberals.After returning from studying in England, he joined the New Democrats, eventually being elected as an NDP MP before leaving Ottawa to lead the provincial NDP and becoming premier of Ontario.In 1998, he resigned from the NDP but didn't sever political ties with them until 2002.That year, he argued in an essay published by the National Post that he no longer supported the party's approach to the Middle East and its opposition to the World Trade Organization."This is not a vision of social democracy worthy of support,'' he wrote at the time.In 2006, he declared his allegiance to the Liberals, running for its leadership but losing.He became a Liberal MP in 2008 and the party's interim leader following the 2011 election. (credit:CP)
Lawrence Cannon(37 of73)
Mulcair named former Conservative cabinet minister Lawrence Cannon as the one who approached him to join the Conservatives.The duo knew each other from their days with the Quebec Liberals; Cannon represented that party in the Quebec National Assembly for nearly 10 years before Mulcair joined their ranks.And Cannon backed Sheila Copps when she ran for leadership of the federal Liberals in 2000.But he then left the party for the private sector, reportedly disillusioned over Jean Chretien's handling of the 1995 Quebec referendum and the subsequent sponsorship scandal.He went back into municipal politics for a time and then joined the Conservatives."The decision of Lawrence Cannon to join the Conservative party will help us build a new, clean federalism in the province,'' Harper told a 2005 press conference announcing Cannon's candidacy.He was elected in 2006, serving in two cabinet posts before losing his seat in the 2011 election and being appointed ambassador to France. (credit:CP)
David Emerson(38 of73)
The chance to represent Canada abroad also appeared to lure David Emerson across the aisle.The long-time businessman was wooed by the Liberals to join their party for the 2004 election and he was elected in a Vancouver riding that year, going on to become industry minister.In the 2006 election he ran for the Liberals again, repeatedly attacking the Tories, and won his seat. That campaign saw the Harper Conservatives eke out a minority government victory.When Harper and his team showed up at Rideau Hall to be sworn in, Emerson was with them and was named international trade minister.The Toronto Star had reported that while in the Liberal cabinet, Emerson had objected to a softwood lumber deal the government was close to disclosing. Emerson told reporters he made the partisan switch to serve his constituents better."I am pursuing the very agenda that I got involved to pursue when I was in the Liberal party supporting Paul Martin. I'm continuing to pursue it,'' he said in 2006.He did not stand for re-election in 2008. (credit:CP)
Scott Brison(39 of73)
The Nova Scotia MP was first elected in 1997 as a Progressive Conservative and in 2003 ran for the leadership of that party, losing to Peter MacKay.Though later that year he voted in favour of the PC's merging with the Canadian Alliance to form the new Conservative party, only days after the merger he announced he was going to sit as a Liberal.In later interviews, he said he was told by those in the Canadian Alliance, including Stephen Harper, that the fact he was gay wouldn't hold back his political career within the new party.But he said he was also told the Conservatives would continue to champion issues that were important with its socially conservative base."I could not run for a party that I did not want to win the election,'' Brison said in a 2006 interview. (credit:CP)
Eve Adams(40 of73)
The Toronto-area Tory sent a shock through political circles when she showed up alongside Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau at a news conference earlier this year and announced she was joining his team.Adams had long ties to the Conservatives dating back to the Mulroney days, and had been elected for the party as an MP in 2011, winning a coveted suburban riding away from the Liberals.Eventually, she became romantically linked with Dimitri Soudas, Harper's former director of communications who went on to become executive director of the party.He lost that position after being accused of meddling in her nomination campaign for the 2015 election, which eventually led to both of them being excommunicated from the party.When Adams announced her decision to join the Liberals, she said it was because she no longer supported the Conservatives' policy approach, specifically their income splitting policy."I cannot support mean-spirited measures that benefit only the richest few,'' she said.She has yet to be formally nominated as a Liberal candidate for the upcoming election. (credit:CP)
Rob Anders, Calgary West(41 of73)
First elected: 1997 (credit:CP)
Jason Kenney, Calgary Southeast(42 of73)
First elected: 1997 (credit:CP)
Deepak Obhrai, Calgary East(43 of73)
First elected: 1997 (credit:CP)
Diane Ablonczy, Calgary-Nose Hill(44 of73)
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Dick Harris, Prince George-Bulkley Valley(45 of73)
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Garry Breitkreuz, Yorkton-Melville(46 of73)
First elected: 1993 (credit:CP)
Gerry Ritz, Battlefords-Lloydminster(47 of73)
First elected: 1997 (credit:CP)
Peter Goldring, Edmonton East(48 of73)
First elected: 1997 (credit:CP)
John Duncan, Vancouver Island North(49 of73)
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Leon Benoit, Vegreville-Wainwright(50 of73)
First elected: 1993 (credit:CP)
Maurice Vellacott, Saskatoon-Wanuskewin(51 of73)
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Rob Ford(52 of73)
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says he has had his fair share of marijuana."Oh, yeah. I've smoked a lot of it." (credit:CP)
Justin Trudeau(53 of73)
The federal Liberal leader opened up to HuffPost about his experience with marijuana in August."Sometimes, I guess, I have gotten a buzz, but other times no. I’m not really crazy about it.” (credit:CP)
Tom Mulcair(54 of73)
The Opposition leader's office told HuffPost this summer that Mulcair has smoked in the past but not since he was elected to office. Mulcair was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in 1994. (credit:CP)
Marc Garneau(55 of73)
The Liberal MP and Canada's first astronaut said he tried marijuana as a student in the 1970s in England. "It's not my thing. I stopped because it wasn't doing anything for me." (credit:CP)
Kathleen Wynne(56 of73)
The premier of Ontario said she smoked pot decades ago."I have smoked marijuana but not for the last 35 years." (credit:CP)
Darrell Dexter(57 of73)
Said the former premier of Nova Scotia: "Like every other person I knew back in the '70s when I went to university, some of whom are actually in this room, I would have tried it, the same as other people at that time." (credit:CP)
Christy Clark(58 of73)
Said the premier of British Columbia:"I graduated from Burnaby South Senior Secondary in 1983 and there was a lot of that going on when I was in high school and I didn't avoid it all together." (credit:CP)
Tim Hudak(59 of73)
The leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario admitted he's puffed in the past."I was a normal kid, I had a normal upbringing, a normal life in university. I experimented from time to time with marijuana. It’s a long time ago in the past and in the grand scheme of things." (credit:CP)
Paul Martin(60 of73)
The former prime minister of Canada told CTV News:"The answer is: I never smoked. I never smoked anything, but there was an earlier time, years ago, when (my wife) made some brownies and they did have a strange taste." (credit:CP)
Kim Campbell(61 of73)
The former prime minister admitted while running for the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives that she tried weed."And I inhaled the smoke." (credit:CP)
Dalton McGuinty(62 of73)
The former premier of Ontario said he experimented in his teens, but only twice. (credit:CP)
Brad Wall(63 of73)
The premier of Saskatchewan said he was an "infrequent" user back in university."It didn't really do anything for me, luckily, because for some, it does lead to other things." (credit:CP)
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