Leaders of main federal parties face off in the elections first and only English debate

The five main party leaders met for the first and only English debate of this election campaign Thursday night and clashed over the country's most pressing problems, from climate change to fractious foreign relations.

Eschewing a traditional debate format, the opening segment on "leadership and accountability" included a grab bag of questions from moderator Shachi Kurl for the leaders on the fall of Kabul, the imprisonment of two Canadians in China and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's decision to call a snap election during a pandemic.

With the polls suggesting the race for first place is a virtual dead heat less than two weeks out from election day, Trudeau and Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole set their sights on each other early in the debate.

Trudeau tried to paint O'Toole as a climate laggard. Pointing to a positive review from a prominent climate analyst, Trudeau said the Liberal climate plan is the least costly and the most effective strategy on offer to drive Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. He dismissed O'Toole's promised green policies as "weak."

O'Toole has said that, if he's elected, he will push the reset button on Canada's climate plan, returning to the previous national target of reducing emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. Trudeau said O'Toole threatens to drag Canada back to "the Harper years," when former prime minister Stephen Harper committed to less ambitious environmental action.

"We have to win back trust on this issue â€" we haven't met the expectations of Canadians on climate change," O'Toole said. He defended his lower target, saying his plan is actually doable and would not tank Canada's resource-rich economy.

"Mr. O'Toole can't even convince his party that climate change is real because they voted against that," Trudeau said, referring to a failed Conservative party convention motion to declare that "climate change is real."

O'Toole hit back, saying the Liberal leader talks a big game on climate but has failed to put a dent in Canada's greenhouse gas emissions.

"Mr. Trudeau always forgets one thing â€" he's never met a target," O'Toole said.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also piled on, saying "Justin Trudeau has failed all of us. You had six years and you've got the worst track record in the G7 after six years."

According to the latest report from Environment and Climate Change Canada, the country's emissions have ticked up on Trudeau's watch.

In 2019 â€" the first year of the federal carbon pricing system, commonly called the "carbon tax" â€" Canada produced 730 megatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, an increase of one megatonne â€" or 0.2 per cent â€" over 2018.

However, the economy grew faster than emissions did in 2019 â€" which means the country's "emissions intensity" is lower than it has been in the past.

The 730 megatonnes of emissions recorded in 2019 is slightly higher than the 723 megatonnes Canada churned out in 2015, the year Trudeau first took office.

The election campaign is entering its final stretch. Advance polls open tomorrow and election day is Sept. 20.

WATCH: Political strategists discuss how leaders prepare for debates on CBC's Power & Politics

How do party leaders prepare for national debates?2 hours agoThree former political staff who have prepared party leaders for debates join Power & Politics to talk about the process and what campaigns focus on once the debates have finished. 10:00

The official leaders' debates are organized by The Leaders' Debates Commission, a non-partisan and independent organization.

People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier was not invited to participate because the commission determined that his party did not have the required level of voter support â€" four per cent â€" five days after the date of the election call. Recent polling figures suggest the PPC has since overtaken the Greens in national support.

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