OTTAWA — Green Party Leader Elizabeth May lampooned Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer Thursday by claiming he would be nothing more than a puppet for U.S. President Donald Trump should he become prime minister. May made the comment during the first federal leaders’ debate that she, Scheer, and New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh attended. “I looked at your policies on foreign policy today, Andrew, and I realized if anyone wants to know where you stand just figure out what Trump wants,” May said. She pointed to Scheer’s promise that he would move Canada’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, as well as the Tory leader’s interest in joining America’s ballistic defence program. “You want to join with the U.S. and build an anti-ballistic missile system, so you will do what Trump wants,” May said. “He might as well be the ventriloquist and you’re Charlie McCarthy.”

Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Edgar Bergen with his ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy on The Hollywood Palace (airdate Feb. 19, 1966)

The reference was an obscure one. McCarthy was the ventriloquist puppet partner to late American actor Edgar Bergen. Both man and puppet starred in a popular radio show between 1937 and 1957. “That’s just false,” Scheer said in response to May’s remark. But instead of returning fire at the Green Party leader, Scheer shifted his focus to attack Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s record on trade and the NAFTA renegotiation. Trudeau was a no-show at Thursday’s debate hosted by Maclean’s magazine and Citytv. Instead, he held a rally in Edmonton in a riding held by the NDP, shortly before his rivals squared off on a sound stage in downtown Toronto. Trudeau’s absence was marked by an empty lectern. The links between Scheer and Trump did not let up. Following May’s Trump ventriloquist criticism, Singh jumped in attacking Scheer and Trudeau for their soft rebuke of American child-detention facilities as the U.S.-Mexico border.

Frank Gunn/CP Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh pose before the Maclean's/Citytv National Leaders Debate in Toronto on Sept. 12, 2019.

Scheer “is not willing to condemn Mr. Trump for his horrible treatment of human beings, fellow brothers and sisters,” Singh said, calling it “another example of how he is no stronger than Mr. Trudeau and cannot provide the strength in leadership that we need.” Both Trudeau and Scheer have treaded carefully when choosing their words to comment on U.S. policy under the Trump administration. After the debate, May was asked if comments criticizing world leaders could create challenges in forming international working relationships as prime minister.