'You are a phony, you are a fraud': 5 takeaways from the Canadian debate

Politico

Justin Trudeau survived, Andrew Scheer went there on the blackface scandal and populists courted north-of-the-border Trump fans with a "Canada First” promise.

Two weeks before Oct. 21 elections, Canada's six party leaders took the stage at the National History Museum in Gatineau, Quebec on Monday night — and with only one official English language debate scheduled, none of them could afford to misfire. Canadians may be a polite bunch, but this was a raucous, squabbling debate.

All eyes were on the once-ascendant Trudeau; only recently an icon of global liberals, he’s been hobbled by a series of scandals and came in with much to lose, including his majority government. For Conservative opposition leader Scheer, it was a final chance to overtake Trudeau’s Liberals in a race that's neck-and-neck, according to national polls. Feeding into that cacophony were regional and fringe parties, including the People’s Party and the Bloc Quebecois, which could play a huge role as spoilers and swing the election to Trudeau’s Liberals — or condemn them to a minority government in a few short weeks. Early voting in the election starts Friday.

Here are five key takeaways from POLITICO's reporting team in Gatineau and Washington, D.C.: