Article content

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says that Justin Trudeau is skipping the first debate of the election campaign because he’s trying to run away from his record.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or WATCH: Singh, Scheer, May face off in first debate Back to video

Singh will be on stage Thursday night at the Macleans/CityTV debate in Toronto alongside Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and Green Leader Elizabeth May. Liberal Leader Trudeau has decided not to attend.

“He should be able to stand up and respond to questions, hold up and defend his record,” Singh said at a campaign stop in Brampton. “His record is pretty abysmal but that doesn’t mean he should give up on the debate.”

Singh said much of the debate will be focused on the failure of the last four years of Trudeau’s time in office, making it difficult to debate the issues without him being present.

“It’s no real surprise that Trudeau won’t be there with the week that he’s had,” Scheer said when asked about Trudeau skipping. “It’s not really a shock because we learned this week that the RCMP is doing an investigation about possible obstruction of justice.”

Scheer noted that part of the debate will be on the subject of foreign affairs, something he has been highly critical of Trudeau on.

“He has clowned around on the world stage, backed down to Donald Trump on NAFTA negotiations, offering concession after concession after concession with nothing to gain in return. And of course he has done nothing since January to stand up for Canadians being imprisoned by the Chinese government,” Scheer said.