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The Liberal leadership debates kicked off Sunday with few fireworks, but candidates traded barbs when one hopeful said the third-place party should cut a deal with the NDP to defeat Stephen Harper’s Conservatives.

Speaking in Vancouver, most of the nine candidates argued that co-operating with the official opposition party in order to win the 2015 elections was out of the question, as the Liberals were fundamentally different.

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“It’s not enough to replace Stephen Harper with someone else. We need to replace him with a very, very clear vision of where we’re going forward,” said Montreal MP and presumptive front-runner Justin Trudeau.

“What would electoral co-operation imply? What kind of values are we willing to jettison?”

Vancouver MP Joyce Murray was the lone candidate to support one-time co-operation with the NDP and the Greens.

“Canada is too important to let Stephen Harper win the election in 2015,” she said. “We have to get rid of Stephen Harper.”