Former B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said they won’t be candidates for the federal Liberal leadership.
OTTAWA — The race to replace Justin Trudeau winnowed to just a few major contenders Tuesday, as more and more Liberals decide to stay on the sidelines in their party’s coming leadership contest.
The two most anticipated candidates — former finance minister Chrystia Freeland and former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney — are expected to launch their campaigns later this week.
A source close to the Carney campaign said his announcement would come Thursday, but the former central banker came very close to revealing his intentions Monday evening during an appearance on the U.S. television talk show “The Daily Show.”
In an interview with host Jon Stewart, Carney described a “wild hypothetical” of a Liberal leader who could take on a populist right-wing opponent like Pierre Poilievre.
“Let’s say the candidate wasn’t part of the government. Let’s say the candidate did have a lot of economic experience. Let’s say the candidate did deal with crises. Let’s say the candidate had a plan to deal with the challenges in the here and now,” he said.
Sources close to Freeland said she intends to announce her candidacy before U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, and will pledge to impose “dollar-for-dollar” matching tariffs for any tariffs the new U.S. president brings in.
The other candidate who sources confirmed will enter the leadership race this week is House leader Karina Gould.
Unlike Carney and Freeland, who have long been rumoured as potential successors to Trudeau, Gould’s name has only come up recently.
Gould was first elected in 2015 when the Trudeau government came to power. She has previously served as the minister of democratic institutions, international development and families, and children and social development.
At 37, Gould would likely be the youngest candidate in the leadership race. She made history as the first person to give birth and take maternity leave while serving as a federal cabinet minister.
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said last week that he was “seriously considering” a leadership run, but has issued no further updates since.
Since Trudeau announced his pending resignation, several Liberal cabinet ministers who had been considered potential successors have declined to enter the leadership race — and, in at least one case, said they would bow out of politics entirely.
On Tuesday, former B.C. premier Christy Clark, who was widely expected to run and had assembled a significant organization, said the timing of Trudeau’s resignation did not leave her enough time to mount a viable campaign.
“While we have come a long way in a short time, there is simply not enough time to mount a successful campaign and for me to effectively connect with Francophone Canadians in their language,” she said.
“I have worked hard at improving my French but it’s not where it needs to be today.”
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne also said Tuesday that he would not enter the race.
Speaking to a Canadian Club luncheon in Toronto, Champagne said he would stay focused on his current job, and on Trump’s threats to the Canadian economy.
“I came to the conclusion that I will not be seeking to be the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada for the upcoming race. I will dedicate my energy to defending Canada, to defending Canadians, to defending Canadian businesses,” he said.
Pressed if he would run again in the next general election, Champagne didn’t answer.
“Can I take one decision at a time?” he replied. “Because this is already a big day for me.”
Like Champagne, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly have said they won’t join the contest because they need to focus on their current jobs as Trump threatens to impose tariffs on Canadian goods when he becomes president next week.
Like Clark, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon cited the tight timeline in his announcement over the weekend that he would not seek the leadership.
Treasury Board President Anita Anand has also dropped out of contention after years of speculation that she would seek the leadership. Anand also announced she won’t run again in the next general election, adding to the large number of Liberal MPs who have announced they would not seek another term.
The Liberal Party of Canada set the rules for the leadership race last week, which require candidates to provide a $350,000 entrance fee, and give them just 13 days to sign up new members.
The new leader will be announced on March 9 after party members vote in a preferential ballot. The details of how voting will take place have not been announced, nor has a convention location.
Clark was premier of British Columbia from 2011 to 2017, leading the B.C. Liberals through election campaigns in 2013 and 2017. While the Liberals won the most seats in the 2017 election, they did not have a majority, and their government was toppled by the New Democrats with the support of the B.C. Greens.
Clark had urged the federal Liberals to move back toward the centre of the political spectrum and to focus on the economy.
“We must redefine the Liberal party as a big-tent party again — one that will fight for jobs, workers, investment and growth,” she said.
Apart from federal Liberals, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey is also considering whether to run, according to two party sources.
Furey had planned to support LeBlanc. However, since the finance minister said he would not seek the leadership, Furey has fielded calls from what one insider described as “Chrétien Liberals” and “strategically centre Liberals” who don’t like the options being presented to them.
Furey is one of two Liberal premiers in Canada. He speaks a little French but is not bilingual.
So far, only three people have formally declared their candidacies for the Liberal leadership: Ottawa MP Chandra Arya, former MP Frank Baylis and Nova Scotia MP Jaime Battiste.
Source: Field of candidates narrows in the race to replace Trudeau
Dave Mantin