Gloves come off in French-language Conservative leadership debate

The third debate ofthe Conservative leadership campaign held in Quebec City on Tuesday,the only official debate to be held entirely in French,featured some sharp exchanges between candidates, with much of the fire being directed at Quebec MPMaximeBernier.

The debate alsoprovedto be a serious challenge to the French-language skills of some of the 13 contestants taking part.

The crowd was clearly partial to the two local candidates the loudest applause came whenBernierand StevenBlaneywere introduced, while polite applause greeted the 11 other non-Quebec contestants.

A link withQuebecerswas a common theme of the debate, with candidates emphasizing the importance of the French language and their individual connections with Quebec.

MichaelChong, who had resigned from Stephen Harper's cabinet in 2006 over the Conservative government's Quebec nation motion, promised to "defend the French fact in North America," whileKellieLeitchsaid she was taking French-language classes and hoped to improve.

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Thedebate was also the candidates'last opportunity to make their mark withparty members before the entry into the race of Kevin O'Leary, which CBC News has learnedwill happen on Wednesday.

O'Leary's name did not come up until after the debate, however, when his absence was criticized by some of the candidates, most angrily by LisaRaitt.

Earlier this month, leadershiprival AndrewScheerhad called for O'Leary to get into the race before the French-language debate. ButO'Leary, who speaks little French, recently put out a statement saying that "out of respect for Quebec and French-Canadians, I feel it makes more sense to abstain from the French debate until I am more proficient."

Some struggle to be understood

Though a fewof the Conservative leadership candidates are fluently bilingual, about half of the anglophone contestants who participated in the previous bilingualdebate inMonctonin December struggled in their second language.

Those struggles continued in Quebec City.

BernierandBlaneystood out from their rivals during the debate, taking full advantage of their fluency in French. Chris Alexander, Rick Peterson and Pierre Lemieuxalso spoke comfortably throughout the night, whileChong,Scheerand AndrewSaxtonhad little trouble being understood.

But other candidates had greater difficulties.DeepakObhraiwas nearly incomprehensible, reading notes phonetically and once admitting that his pronunciation was"horrible."

Leitch, BradTrost, and ErinO'Toolealso stumbled.

Raittrelied primarily on notes, but seemed to have improved her French somewhat since the December debate inMoncton, N.B., though she struggled in the post-debate scrums with reporters.

Bernierthe early target of attacks

Many of the candidates used their 30-second rebuttals early, withLeitchandBlaneyboth going afterBernierfor his position on ending corporate welfare, something they arguedBernierhad given out when he was a cabinet minister.

LeitchcalledBerniera "liar and an impostor."

BothBlaneyand Lemieuxalso went afterBernieron his pledge to end supply management.Bernierriposted by saying supply management was defended by a powerful interest group, but that he was looking out for the interests of Canadians.

O'Toolethen deplored the attacks happening among Conservatives as he has already done in this campaign a position that wasseconded byChong.

Supply management re-emerged as a topic of controversy when a question about it was posed to every contestant. ThoughBernierwas alone in arguing for the end of supply management,Blaneyused the opportunity to attackScheer, saying that the Saskatchewan MP had not defended supply management in the past.

ScheercalledBlaney"dishonest" and said that he had voted to protect supply management in the House of Commons.

Candidates address immigration, security, First Nations

A few of the questions in the debate touched onimmigration and national security.

Trostsuggested that all immigration from "pro-radical Islam" regions should be halted, whileLeitchspoke again of her plan to impose screening of immigrants for "Canadian values."

Some of the candidates also defended the law brought in under the Conservatives giving the government the power to remove Canadian citizenship from dual citizenship holders found guilty of terrorism.

Obhraiwas not a defender of the law, saying that "a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian." In response,Blaney, the former minister for public safety, said that he supported this law and that a "terrorist found guilty is a terrorist is a terrorist."

The candidates were asked what they would do to help Indigenous Canadians.Chongproposed investing in education whileBlaneysuggested that the reserve system should be dismantled, a proposal that was dismissed by Chris Alexander and Rick Peterson.

Berniersuggested that the federal government should respect treaties andensure that Indigenous Canadians have access to resources that give them equal services to other Canadians, but that they also have responsibility for their own destiny and that the government "can't always send billions to solve problems."

The debate wasmoderated byPascaleDry, a former journalist and news anchor whoran unsuccessfully under the Conservative banner in the last election.

The fourth debate is scheduled for Feb. 28 in Edmonton. The winner of the Conservative leadership vote will be announced on May 27.