Leaders' debates

The role of leaders’ debates

Leaders’ debates play an essential role in Canada’s federal elections. These debates engage Canadians in the electoral campaign. They help inform your vote by providing you with a forum to compare prospective prime ministers, while giving you more information on different political parties and their policy platforms.

Leaders’ Debate Commission

Until the 2015 federal election, leaders’ debates were organized by a group of Canada’s five major television networks. In 2018, a Leaders’ Debate Commission was created to organize leaders’ debates for the 2019 election. The Commission has thus far organized leaders' debates for the 2019 and 2021 federal general elections.

Mandate

Led by an independent commissioner and supported by a small Secretariat and a seven-member Advisory Board, the Commission’s mandate is twofold. First, to organize two leaders’ debates – one in each official language. Second, to prepare a report for the Minister following the debates, outlining findings, lessons learned, and recommendations, which the Minister tables in Parliament.

The Commission also sets criteria for participation in the debates by political party leaders.

Debates Commissioner

The Debates’ Commissioner must execute their role in a manner that is neutral, fair, and principled.

The Right Honourable David Johnston was named as the Commissioner for both the 2019 and 2021 general elections. Following his resignation in March 2023, the Leaders’ Debates Commission Order in Council has been amended to ensure leaders’ debates can be organized as needed should the Debates Commissioner position ever be vacant. This change allows for Mr. Michel Cormier, Executive Director of the LDC, to assume responsibilities of the Commissioner on a temporary basis to organize leaders’ debates ahead of the next fixed general election in 2025.

Advisory Board

The composition of the seven-member Advisory Board – appointed by the Commissioner – is mandated to be reflective of gender balance and Canadian diversity and to represent a range of political affiliations and expertise. Board members will be guided by the pursuit of the public interest and by the principles of independence, impartiality, credibility, democratic citizenship, civic education, inclusion and cost-effectiveness.

Advisory board members:

• Dr. Chad Gaffield - Distinguished Professor, University of Ottawa, former President of the Royal Society of Canada
• The Honourable Deborah Grey - Former Reform MP, first female Leader of the Opposition
• Mr. Jean La Rose - Former Chief Executive Officer, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN)
• Ms. Megan Leslie - President and Chief Executive Officer, World Wildlife Fund Canada, former Deputy Leader of the Official Opposition (NDP)
• The Honourable John Manley - Former deputy Prime Minister, Liberal Cabinet Minister and Chief Executive Officer of Business Council of Canada
• The Honourable Louise Otis - President of the Administrative Tribunal of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), President of the Administrative Tribunal of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF)
• Mr. Abdullah Snobar - Executive Director, DMZ and Chief Executive Officer of DMZ Ventures & Zone Startups

Reports

The Leaders’ Debates Commission releases reports on its experiences organizing debates during the elections. The reports include findings and recommendations to inform the future of debates in Canada.

• 2019 Elections: Democracy Matters, Debates Count: A report on the 2019 Leaders' Debates Commission and the future of debates in Canada (June 2020)
• 2021 Elections: Democracy matters: Making debates count for citizens - A report on the Leaders' Debates Commission 2021 federal election experience (May 2022)

Public feedback on the creation of the Leaders’ Debate Commission

As part of the creation of the Commission, the Government of Canada sought feedback through:

• an online consultation open to all Canadians
• a series of roundtable discussions led by the then-Minister of Democratic Institutions, with participation from the media, academia and public interest groups
• a study by the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

Online consultation

On January 11, 2018, the Minister responsible for Democratic Institutions launched an online consultation on political party leaders’ debates to inform the policy work being undertaken to meet this commitment.

In January and February 2018, Canadians submitted over 400 comments about the political party leaders’ debates, with an additional 14,000 emails submitted outside of the online consultation portal.

Roundtable discussions

In January 2018, five roundtable discussions took place across the country – in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver. They included participants in the fields of academics, broadcast services, journalism, as well as stakeholder groups and individuals with experience with political parties.

Find out more: Creating an Independent Commission for Federal Leaders’ Debates Round Table Report.

Study by the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs

In November 2017, the Study by the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs began a study about the creation of an independent commissioner responsible for leaders’ debates. It heard testimony from the Minister of Democratic Institutions and from 33 witnesses over the course of eight meetings. The Committee also received written submissions from political parties and interested individuals.

Find out more: Committee report based on its study Creation of an Independent Commissioner Responsible for Leaders’ Debates and the Government response.