Quick Sketch: Meet Liberal leadership candidate Karina Gould

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

OTTAWA — Karina Gould is making her pitch to Liberal grassroots as the best candidate to rebuild and restore Canadians' faith in the party.

At 37, she’s the youngest contender in the running and the millennial mom says it’s time for a new generation of leadership at the top.

Here’s a quick look at how the rising star in the party arrived at this moment.

Born: June 28, 1987 in Burlington, Ont.

Early years: Gould grew up in Burlington and developed a strong interest in community activism and volunteering. After graduating from high school in 2005, she travelled to Mexico where she spent a year volunteering at an orphanage. That’s where she met her future husband and learned to speak Spanish.

She later studied political science and Latin American studies at McGill University and international relations at Oxford University.

She has volunteered locally for the Iroquoia Bruce Trail Club, the Burlington chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women, the Mississauga Furniture Bank and Halton Women’s Place, a local women’s shelter.

Career history: Before campaigning for public office, Gould worked for the Mexican Trade Commission in Toronto and did consulting for the Migration and Development Program at the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C.

Gould was swept into government in the wave that brought Justin Trudeau his first majority mandate in 2015. During the campaign, she briefly caused a controversy for Trudeau’s campaign over an old Twitter post, which she then deleted. It had said, “It’s time to landlock Alberta’s tarsands.”

She’s been in office for nearly a decade and claimed some notable firsts. She became the youngest woman to serve as a federal cabinet minister and the first federal minister to give birth while in office. In 2018, she became the first cabinet member to go on maternity leave.

Within the Liberal party, she is known for getting the national child care program over the finish line.

Gould first joined cabinet as minister for democratic institutions in 2017, taking over the problem-plagued role from Maryam Monsef at a time when the Liberal government had abandoned its campaign promise to usher in electoral reform. Gould later served as minister for international development and minister of families.

In July 2023, she became government House leader, taking on a key senior role of chief attack dog and managing the government’s agenda in the House of Commons — something that greatly raised her profile in the media.

Family: She is married to Alberto Gerones. The two have a son, Oliver, and a daughter, Taya.

Quote: “We need to rebuild our party so we can keep building our country. We need new leadership to fight for everyday Canadians.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 19, 2025.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press