Many of the 13 declared candidates for the leadership of the Conservative party struggled to speak in one of the country's official languages during a debate in Quebec City Tuesday night.
Maxime Bernier, arguing on his home turf in his mother tongue of French, proved to be the target of most of his rivals especially over his pledges to abolish supply management.
Bernier said the policy, which heavily subsidizes farmers, reduces competition and results in higher prices for Canadian consumers.
He also said that language skills were paramount.
"The only way to beat Justin Trudeau in 2019 will be to have a leader who is able to express himself fluently in our two official languages," said Bernier.
Steven Blaney, the other Conservative candidate from Quebec, argued that First Nations reserves should be restructured, saying the isolation of rural communities has enabled drug and alcohol abuse.
Michael Chong argued that the party needs to regain the support of immigrant communities, a position that was echoed by Rick Peterson.
Chong also touted drastic tax cuts.
"My economic plan starts with the largest income tax cuts in the history of Canada," said Chong.
For several candidates, namely Kellie Leitch, Deepak Obhrai, Lisa Raitt, and Brad Trost, reading a prepared statement seemed to tax their language skills.
Obhrai, for one, freely admitted to speaking "horrible, horrible" French, but said he was dedicated to learning the language.
It was at times difficult to make sense of what some of the candidates were saying, but they made an attempt in French, unlike Kevin O'Leary, who waited to officially declare his candidacy on Wednesday.
O'Leary said he spoke French up until the age of seven as a boy growing up in Montreal.
Having lived in Boston, Massachusetts since the early 1990s, he said he is now trying to immerse himself in the French language so it will "come back" to him.
O'Leary added he plans to be fluent enough to debate Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in French during the 2019 election campaign if he wins the Tory leadership.
But his decision to only declare his candidacy following the French-language debate is being called cowardly.
La Presse columnist Yves Boisvert said at least the Conservative leadership candidates who debated in Quebec City were willing to stand up and demonstrate their skills - or lack of them.
"They were there to show the minimal amount of respect, and try," said Boisvert.
Instead, he says O'Leary was chicken for waiting until Wednesday, when it was clear his decision was made long ago.
"A coward would do just that," said Boisvert.
He pointed out that nearly a third of Canadians speak French.
"If you are in the highest office in the country and you can't speak to 30 percent of the population, you shouldn't be there," said Boisvert.
The next Conservative leadership debate will be on February 28 in Edmonton and will be held in English.
Conservatives will select their new leader on May 27, 2017.
