Liberal leadership race crystallizes as candidates make opening pitches

Leader of the Government in the House of Commons Karina Gould leaves the hallway of the Cabinet Room in West Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

The experienced hand who can fix the economy. The tough negotiator who can take on a Donald Trump White House. The millennial long-hauler who can rebuild the party.

That’s how candidates competing for Justin Trudeau’s job as Liberal leader are attempting to define themselves to stand out from the pack.

The race heated up on Saturday as Government House leader Karina Gould became the youngest candidate to throw her hat in the ring, saying the party needs a “new generation of leadership.”

She and rival candidate Chrystia Freeland released dueling campaign videos arguing why they’re best placed to lead the party into the next election.

“Canadians have lost faith in our party and we have to earn back their trust,” the 37-year-old Gould said, adding she’s the best person to rebuild the damaged party brand.

Her video came fast on the heels of one that Freeland’s camp released, where the former finance minister bills herself as the best person to lead Canada’s fight against incoming U.S. president Trump, saying she’s taken him on before — and won.

In the video posted to social media, Freeland said she was a “tough negotiator” in talks to overhaul Canada’s most important trade deal, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and that Trump doesn’t like her “very much” because Canada won that battle.

“Donald Trump and his billionaire buddies think they can push us around,” she said over images of Trump on stage at a rally with Elon Musk. “Trump thinks we’re for sale — that he can take what isn’t his. We’re not gonna let him.”

When former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney launched his leadership bid in his hometown of Edmonton on Thursday, he said if there’s one thing to remember about him, it’s that he will be “completely focused on getting our economy back on track.”

Carney has significant private and public sector experience, from investment banking to setting monetary policy for Canada and the U.K., and he can lean on that to buff up his economic bona fides during the campaign. He is also seeking to present himself as an outsider who wasn’t part of the Trudeau government.

But as they try to differentiate themselves, the candidates will face a common challenge. Each is close with Trudeau, who remains deeply unpopular with the voting public.

They have also all backed Trudeau’s controversial carbon pricing regime — at least until recently. And the Opposition Conservatives will make sure Canadians know this well, and have already launched ads.

The candidates also share a common enemy: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who is on track to win the next election and form government if the Liberal leadership candidates can’t rejuvenate their ailing party brand.

Freeland claimed Poilievre will “bow down to Trump and sell us out,” while Carney sought to frame him as a dangerous populist who doesn’t understand how the economy works.

Gould, a member of Trudeau’s cabinet, has a track record of going toe to toe with Poilievre. She did not mention him or Trump by name, but said in her video the party needs someone who can “stand up to bullies” and “won’t back down.”

Freeland is planning her full campaign launch on Sunday in Toronto, while Gould is officially launching her bid the same day in Burlington, Ont.

Ottawa MP Chandra Arya and former Montreal MP Frank Baylis have both also indicated they intend to run, as has Cape Breton MP Jaime Battiste.

Potential candidates only have a matter of days left to declare they will vie for the party’s top job before the cutoff deadline on Thursday and pay a $50,000 deposit.

Candidates must quickly raise and then pony up a total of $350,000 to join the race, although the party has come up with an instalment plan to manage covering such a steep entry price tag in a short time frame.

Candidates will have to pay a $50,000 fee by Jan. 30, then face another two $125,000 payment hurdles to clear on Feb. 7 and Feb. 17.

Arya said on social media on Friday that he has the required number of signatures from party members and pay the first deposit required to enter the race, while Carney posted online that he raised more than $125,000 in the first 24 hours after his campaign launch.

Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson declined to run on Friday, saying he thinks he could have raised the funds but ultimately opted against a bid of his own.

He joins a host of other cabinet ministers to bow out early, most notably Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who many in the capital saw as potential front runners.

Securing endorsements from Joly and Champagne will be crucial for any candidate seeking to shore up their Quebec bona fides.

Other candidate endorsements from caucus meantime continue to trickle in. Former northern affairs minister Dan Vandal endorsed Freeland, touting her experience dealing with the Canada-U. S. trade file, while Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan said he’s backing Carney.

Sheila Copps, former deputy prime minister under Jean Chrétien’s Liberal government, has notably advocated for Gould in recent talk TV show interviews.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 18, 2025