TORONTO — Organizers of a foreign-policy election debate that was scheduled for next Tuesday say they’re cancelling the event because Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau won’t participate.
Rudyard Griffiths, chair of the Munk Debates, says in a statement that Trudeau’s refusal to attend has denied Canadians the only real opportunity they had to see his foreign-policy record challenged substantively.
Griffiths says no one has had a bigger impact on Canada’s foreign policy over the last four years than Trudeau and his refusal to attend is regrettable.
The other three major party leaders had confirmed they would attend.
Trudeau also declined to participate in a debate earlier this month hosted by Maclean’s and Citytv, though he will take part in the official French and English election debates and another organized by Quebec’s TVA network.