English-language federal leaders’ debate themes announced, excludes Afghanistan, ‘two Michaels’ from topics

The debate will cover the themes of affordability, climate, COVID recovery, leadership and accountability, and reconciliation.

Notably absent from the lineup though, as pointed out by Brian Passifiume of the Toronto Sun, are the topics of foreign affairs, the situation in Afghanistan, and the two Michaels, Michael Korvig and Michael Spavor, who have been detained in China for 1,000 days.

Korvig and Savor were detained by the Chinese Communist Party in an act of "hostage diplomacy," which is believed to be a retaliatory act for the detention of Huawei CFO Meng Wangzhou over alleged violations of American sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Twitter users noted that these absent topics may be included in the broad topic of leadership and accountability.

Leaders Yves-François Blanchet of the Bloc Québécois, Erin O'Toole of the Conservative Party of Canada, Annamie Paul of the Green Party of Canada, Jagmeet Singh of the New Democratic Party, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party of Canada have been invited to the event.

The debate is set to take place on Thursday, September 9 at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec from 9 to 11 pm EDT, and will be moderated by President of the Angus Reid Institute Shachi Kurl.