Teeing up the foreign policy debate

“These debates are also a pressure test for who will be our next prime minister“, he said.

John Trent, a senior fellow with the Centre on Governance at the University of Ottawa, said Mulcair will likely propose Canada return to a “more traditional” foreign policy posture. “I think it is the responsibility of any government to continue to seek ways to spend taxpayers’ money prudently”, said Liberal legislator John McCallum, a former national revenue minister.

Is Canada an worldwide free-rider or a peacekeeping leader?

But asked who would best represent Canada on a world stage, in delivering a speech to the United Nations, on trade and economic policy and on terrorism and security, Harper comes out ahead.

“There’s no likelihood that the NDP would ever under any circumstance be able to support Mr. Harper, his divisive politics [and] his backward economics”.

Mulcair has been adamant he would end Canada’s military mission in the region and allow more refugees to find a haven in this country. “So these are “winners” for Harper on a bunch of key issues that will certainly motivate and move his base”, she says.

Mulcair seemed to refer to that statement – which is highlighted in an article on the NDP’s website – in his criticism of the Liberal Leader.

And they are not alone.

But with the ongoing mass movement of Syrian refugees, the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership in the offing and a major climate change conference later this fall, a debate tonight on foreign affairs appears to have particular domestic relevance and interest. Seven out of ten of us don’t have a workplace pension plan, and even when we do, Canada is one of the only countries in the OECD that does not protect workers’ pensions if their company goes bankrupt.

Harper also insisted Canada was taking action to help refugees but said there are security risks that have to be taken into account.

The online survey of 1,487 Canadians was conducted September 22-24. For comparison, a traditional survey of this size would carry a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

During tonight’s Munk Debate on Canada’s Foreign Policy, Canadians will hear about the Liberal plan to bring renewed leadership to Canadian foreign policy.

Among the three main political parties, the Liberals have made the biggest gains in public-opinion polls since the start of the election campaign in early August-and the economy has been a prominent focus. Although they can turn into a shouting match, they serve as a good way to see candidates together, discussing their stance on the most pressing issues that matter to Canadians.