Liberal leadership race has begun and top contenders expect to announce as soon as next week

 

OTTAWA — The race to replace Justin Trudeau is on — not with a bang, but a wait-and-see. 

The contest will be a mad scramble, with barely more than two weeks to sign up new members and the biggest entry fee of any federal leadership race in Canadian history, but the process so far has been marked by who’s not running, as opposed to who is.  

Even after the party unveiled the rules Thursday night, none of the major players who are considering running have announced that they’re in, with most camps saying they’re still considering or will have an announcement soon. Others, like Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, have opted out as the government grapples with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, who this week threatened to use economic force to annex the country.

In a statement to the Star on Friday, former B.C. Premier Christy Clark said Canada is at “a historic inflection point,” and needs a leader who can unite people and stand up to Trump.  

A source close to former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Carney has the support of more than 30 Liberal MPs and that he’s looking to declare himself a leadership candidate towards the end of next week. 

Other candidates still officially on the fence include former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, Employment and Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon, and Liberal House Leader Karina Gould. 

A source close to Gould told the Star on Friday that she is attracting support and serious about possibly entering the race. Gould is likely to make a decision early next week, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. 

But even if most potential candidates are publicly waiting, the leadership campaign is now formally underway, with the clock ticking down to March 9 when the winner will be announced. 

Thursday evening, the Liberal party board selected that date as the end of the race, which will give the new leader just over two weeks to prepare for the return of Parliament on March 24, then a likely confidence vote and a spring election. The party also gave candidates until Jan. 27 to sign up new party members.

https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/foreign-affairs-minister-melanie-joly-says-she-wont-run-for-liberal-leadership/article_586404d4-cf68-11ef-b9f6-ffda77f3e81c.html