Conservatives Debate Freedom, Foreign Policy, and Energy in First Official Debate

(L–R) Candidates Leslyn Lewis, Roman Baber, Jean Charest, Scott Aitchison, Patrick Brown, and Pierre Poilievre at the Conservative Party of Canada English leadership debate in Edmonton, Alta., on May 11, 2022. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

The candidates running in the Conservative leadership election convened in Edmonton on May 11 for their first official debate in English.

The debate wasn’t as contentious as the last week’s unofficial debate hosted by Canada Strong and Free, but still the candidates took the occasional jabs at each other while putting forth arguments on why they are the one to beat the Liberal government in the next election.