(Refiles to add the omitted word ‘who’ in the first paragraph)
Author: David Ljunggren
(Reuters) – Canada’s ruling Liberal Party is seeking a new leader to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced on Jan. 6 that he intends to step down.
The Liberal Party will elect a new leader on March 9.
Liberal House Leader Karina Gould announced her candidacy on Saturday.
These are the main candidates.
FORMER MINISTER OF FINANCE CHRISTIA FREELAND
Freeland, 56, was one of Trudeau’s closest allies during his nine years in power and served as finance minister. Freeland unexpectedly resigned in December after a row over spending and wrote a letter attacking the prime minister’s leadership and his love of “political tricks”.
Freeland, the most prominent cabinet member since Trudeau, has been finance minister since August 2020 and helped craft the government’s multibillion-dollar social spending program to help fight the pandemic.
She previously served as foreign affairs minister and led the Canadian team that successfully renegotiated the trilateral trade agreement with the United States and Mexico after then-President Donald Trump threatened to terminate the agreement.
She entered the government in November 2015, first being the Minister of Trade. Before entering politics in 2013, Freeland worked as a journalist and in senior editorial roles at several media companies, including the Financial Times, Globe and Mail and Reuters, where she worked from 2010 to 2013. She has written two books.
FORMER BANK OF CANADA GOVERNOR MARK CARNEY
Carney, 59, is the only major candidate who is not part of Trudeau’s government. Carney’s name has been floating around as a potential Liberal leader for years, largely thanks to his financial records. He launched his leadership bid on Thursday, casting himself as an outsider not part of Trudeau’s unpopular government and saying he wanted to focus on the faltering economy.
Carney worked for Goldman Sachs before joining Canada’s Ministry of Finance in 2004. He was appointed governor of the Bank of Canada in 2007 and quickly had to deal with the fallout from the global financial crisis in 2008. In 2013, he took over as governor of the Bank of England, becoming the first person to at the head of two large central banks.
Carney predicted the economic damage that would occur if Britain leaves the European Union, prompting attacks from Brexiteers. After leaving the bank in 2020, he was appointed as the United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance. He was a vice president at Brookfield Asset Management (TSX: ) but stepped down from that role to campaign.
HOUSE LEADER KARINA GOULD
Gould, 37, is seeking to become the Liberal Party’s first female leader. She entered parliament in 2015, and was appointed minister of democratic institutions in January 2017, becoming the youngest minister in the government at 29 years old. Although she pushed through some voting reforms, her ministry was disbanded after the 2019 election and she took over a relatively modest foreign aid ministry. She also became the first federal government minister to take maternity leave after giving birth in 2018. She became Minister for Families in 2021 and was appointed Liberal Leader of the House of Commons in 2023.
Three other people have announced their intention to participate, but have little chance of winning. They are backbenchers Chandra Arya and Jaime Battista, as well as former member of parliament Frank Baylis.
(This story has been edited to add ‘who’ in paragraph 1)
