Ottawa

Garneau challenges Trudeau to a duel

A challenger seeks a mano-a-mano match-up with the frontrunner

Marc Garneau challenges Justin Trudeau to a one-on-one debate.

For weeks now I have said Justin Trudeau owes it to Canadians and to members of the Liberal Party to tell us what he stands for and what qualifies him to be leader of the party and the country – now, not after this race is over. If he truly has the qualities to be leader, he should have the courage of his convictions to display them in a one-on-one debate with me…

The current format of Liberal Party leadership debates has so far provided limited opportunity for the nine candidates to offer a full picture of their contrasting views. There have been only fleeting moments for substantive debate and discussion of the issues and qualities of those involved. To date, Justin and I have had only three minutes to debate one-on-one. That is not good enough.

Mr. Trudeau seems willing to stick with the regularly scheduled debates.

Liberals who would dismiss Mr. Garneau’s challenge, might want to remember that the last Liberal leader was quite eager for a one-on-one debate with the presumed frontrunner during the last general election.

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