When a reporter asked him in French how he would evaluate his performance in Thursday's French-language NDP leadership debate, candidate Rob Ashton paused and shook his head.

“I’m sorry. En anglais ?” he replied. He didn’t understand the question.

Fellow hopeful Tanille Johnston was asked the same thing, this time in English. She responded, “ comme ci, comme ça. ” It’s a phrase often taught to anglophones in school, and rarely used by French speakers.

As the five people racing to replace Jagmeet Singh as leader of the federal NDP faced off for their first time in an official debate in Montreal, it was clear none of them are fluent in both of Canada’s official languages.

Having a leader who can't communicate with the 22 per cent of Canadians whose first language is French could hurt

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