After facing off en français last night, the four main contenders vying for the chance to serve — or continue serving — as prime minister are set for their second — and final — showdown tonight — this time, in English, with TVO anchor Steve Paikin in the moderator’s chair. (7 p.m.)

According to the draft programme from CBC/Radio-Canada, which was selected to produce both the French and English sessions, the “main editorial themes” for tonight’s back-and-forth will be similar, although not identical, to those on deck during last night’s go-round in French:

• Affordability and the cost of living
• Energy and climate
• Leading in a crisis
• Public safety and security
• Tariffs and threats to Canada

As was the case last night, the two-hour debate will be broadcast live — commercial-free — on virtually all Canadian networks, and will also be available for streaming online.

Still to be determined, however, is whether any of the leaders will emerge from tonight’s proceedings as the clear winner, which a quick check of the post-debate commentary suggests was very much not the case during the opening go-round.

“Political strategists said Wednesday that no single party leader was able to punch through and disrupt the election’s status quo in Wednesday’s French leaders debate, allowing rookie Liberal Leader Mark Carney to emerge mostly unscathed,” Canadian Press noted last night.

“That leaves the race largely unchanged as all eyes turn to Thursday night’s English language debate. Expert observers say they’ll be watching to see if Carney trips up or if Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, whose party is now trailing in the polls, decides to take more risks and a more aggressive stance.”

Only one party leader will be hitting the early morning media circuit: Bloc Québécois chef Yves-François Blanchet, who is booked in for a chat with Radio-Canada host Patrick Masbourian. (7:35 a.m.)

New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh will, however, be making a mid-morning open-to-media visit to a “local market,” accompanied by his wife, Gurkiran Kaur Sidhu. (10 a.m.)

For his part, Liberal leader Mark Carney will once again drop by a “local small business” for a midday “photo opportunity,” which usually — but not invariably — indicates that he’s not planning to take questions from the press. (12:15 p.m.)

As for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, there’s no word from his office on whether he’ll be making any public appearances before the main event gets underway tonight.

Meanwhile, Green co-leader Jonathan Pedneault — who, up until yesterday morning, had fully expected to join the other leaders on stage, only to be abruptly dropped from the lineup hours before the French debate was set to get underway — will hold a mid-morning press conference at his Outremont, Que, campaign office to field questions on his party’s “election platform,” which is now scheduled to be released this morning. (10 a.m.)

As noted in yesterday’s iPolitics AM, the Green Party had initially planned to unveil its campaign commitments yesterday morning, but were obliged to delay the drop in the wake of the last-minute decision by the Leaders Debate Commission to “rescind” its invitation after the party failed to nominate candidates in at least 90 percent of the 343 available ridings —  a move that both Pedneault and his co-leader, Elizabeth May, described as “antidemocratic.”

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Following the formal dissolution of the 44th Parliament, the federal election is now underway as voters get ready to head to the polls on Apr. 28, 2025.

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