Liberal leadership candidates meet final fundraising deadline, debates scheduled for next week

Liberal Party of Canada leadership candidates are shown in a composite image made from a combination of file and handout photos. Top row: Ruby Dhalla in Brampton, Ont., Wednesday, April 27, 2011; Mark Carney in Vancouver, B.C., Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025; Chrystia Freeland in Ottawa, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. Bottom row: Karina Gould in Ottawa, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025; Frank Baylis in Ottawa, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim, Ethan Cairns, Justin Tang, Spencer Colby

All five Liberal leadership hopefuls say they have met, or will meet, the final payment deadline to officially enter the race to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Monday is the final day to make the last $150,000 payment for a total $350,000 entry fee.

Former cabinet minister Karina Gould — who resigned from her position as Government House leader to run for the leadership — and former MP Ruby Dhalla both announced on social media on Sunday they’d made the payment.

“After three amazing weeks on the campaign trail, I’m happy to report that our campaign hit an exciting milestone this weekend — we paid the final portion of the Party’s $350,000 entry fee! A massive thank you to everyone who’s helped make that possible,” Gould wrote to X.

Dhalla also thanked those who’ve donated to her campaign, promising to “deliver real change for Canada.”

“Momentum is growing, we are 21 days away from victory,” she wrote.

Former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland has also paid the entry fee, according to her team, which told CTV News the payment was made “a while back.”

Former MP Frank Baylis also confirmed in an email to CTV News he’d made his final deposit on Friday, “well ahead of” the deadline.

And former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney will be making the payment Monday, according to his team.

The Liberals announced late last week that nearly 400,000 people have signed up to vote in the race, in less than three weeks’ time.

Contenders lay out policy positions

Leaping over the final financial hurdle comes as the five contenders roll out policy planks.

Dhalla is billing herself as a “true outsider” and vowing to take on U.S. President Donald Trump, writing on social media she’s best positioned to negotiate with him as a businesswoman. She’s also promised a “stronger military, stronger borders,” and that Canada will “end involvement in foreign wars,” if she becomes prime minister.

Baylis says he wants to “change the system” by making a series of government reforms, recognize the Palestinian state, and on Monday, he released his plan to “address Canada’s energy sovereignty.”

Gould has focused largely on affordability, pledging to temporarily reduce the GST and eliminate it entirely for some products, among other promises.

In a statement Monday, Freeland unveiled her 10-point housing plan, promising to cut municipal red tape and tie the number of new immigrants to the housing supply. She’s also taken aim at Trump in both Canadian and American media, billing herself as the person with a “proven track record” of negotiating with the president.

Gould and Freeland have also distanced themselves from some key Trudeau Liberal policies, namely the carbon price and the capital gains inclusion rate increase. They’ve also vowed to accelerate the country’s defence spending to hit the NATO alliance’s two per cent of GPD target sooner than the 2032 date Trudeau has pledged.

Carney, meanwhile, is also vowing to scrap the consumer carbon tax, a policy he’d previously defended.

Carney has also committed to cut red tape on infrastructure projects, break down interprovincial trade barriers, and diversify our trading relationships, particularly in the face of Trump back in the White House.

Who are the frontrunners?

According to Nanos Research founder and head data scientist Nik Nanos, when asked who the frontrunners in the race might be, “the Conservatives, for all intents and purposes, have told Canadians Mark Carney is the one to beat.”

“There’s only one candidate that they’re worried about, and his name is Mark Carney,” Nanos told CTV’s Power Play host Mike Le Couteur in an interview on Monday. “They’re not spending their time on Chrystia Freeland, they’re not spending their time on Karina Gould, Ruby Dhalla, they’re not spending their time on anyone but Mark Carney.”

Carney also has the lion’s share of support from the current Liberal cabinet.

Nanos also said how best to deal with Trump has become the second greatest unprompted issue of concern for Canadians, so the Liberal leadership contenders should address how they plan to negotiate with the president, if they hope to win the race.

Scott Reid, a CTV News political analyst and former communications director to former prime minister Paul Martin, said in an interview it seems “Carney has captured people’s interests,” and that he’s become “a clear, overwhelming front runner by almost any objective standard.”

The party will hold two debates next week, in French on Feb. 24, and in English on Feb. 25, both in Montreal.

Reid said he’ll be “watching keenly to see if they play with boxing gloves or with oven mitts” during those debates, considering the degree to which Carney appears to be ahead and the likely next prime minister.

“Nobody wants to be the clip that is used by your political opponent in the next general election, which shows you looking like you’re trying to spoil Mark Carney’s party,” Reid said. “You want to still be loyal to the Liberal cause, even as you seek to overcome his huge lead and become the next Liberal prime minister.”

According to Liberal Party of Canada director of communications Parker Lund, everyone who meets the payment deadline is eligible to be on the ballot and participate in the debates.

Party members will select their new leader on March 9.

With files from CTV News National Correspondent Rachel Aiello