Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who led Canada’s Liberal Party for 12 years, announced Monday that he will resign. His resignation sets off a succession war that will see some of the party’s most prominent faces vie to replace him.
In Canada’s political system, the leader of the Liberal Party, the largest political party in the House of Commons, is also the Prime Minister. Once Mr. Trudeau’s successor as party leader is elected, they will also take that position.
The politician will take his party to a general election to take on the Conservatives, who dominate the opinion polls, and their leader, Pierre Poilièvre. Elections must be held no later than October, but the new prime minister’s government is expected to be defeated in a vote in the lower house of parliament long before then.
Trudeau said the Liberals would select a successor through a vote by their members, a relatively small segment of Canada’s population. No one has yet announced a candidate to succeed Trudeau as Prime Minister, but possible contenders include:
Chrystia Freeland
Chrystia Freeland’s resignation last month; The former deputy prime minister and finance minister has sparked widespread speculation that she would run herself to run the Liberal Party.
Mr. Freeland has had a successful career as an international journalist, working in Canada as a senior editor at The Globe and Mail in Toronto and as a correspondent and newsroom leader for the Financial Times and Reuters. Born and raised in Alberta, Mr. Freeland returned to Canada in 2013 and joined Prime Minister Trudeau’s Liberal Party. She is married to a New York Times culture reporter.
After the Liberals subsequently came to power, she played a key role in resolving a number of Prime Minister Trudeau’s key issues, most notably in the subsequent negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during the first Trump administration.
On Monday, Mr. Trudeau had kind words for Mr. Freeland but refused to reveal what happened between them. People familiar with the events surrounding her departure said Trudeau attempted to fire her via video call and offered her a non-portfolio ministerial position, which she declined.
Melanie Jolie
Melanie Jolly He has been Canada’s top diplomat since 2021. Despite his own hesitation, Prime Minister Trudeau encouraged her to take the next step in her political career by accepting the Foreign Affairs role. Ms. Jolie was worried about how the job would affect her fertility treatment.
Ms. Jolly brought her own brand of pragmatic diplomacy to the role, emphasizing the importance of Canada working with leaders with opposing views on foreign policy.
“There is a movement that I am seriously opposed to. In other words, if you don’t cooperate with the state, you are sending the message that you are strong,” she told The Times. “I think you have to be strong to have difficult conversations.”
Mr. Joly has led Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy, but it has also faced challenges. She expelled six Indian diplomats from Canada and fought charges of foreign interference by China and India.
mark carney
Mr. Trudeau’s team was personally pursuing Mark Carney. The former governor of the Bank of Canada, who led the Bank of England, will replace Mr. Freeland as finance minister. Ms. Carney and Mr. Freeland are longtime friends, and he is the godfather of one of her children.
Those efforts to track down Ms. Carney were in vain after Ms. Freeland’s public feud with Mr. Trudeau led to her resignation from cabinet. According to Canadian media outlets, Prime Minister Carney later called Liberal Party members to ask for their support and advice in his leadership bid.
Mr. Carney gained a reputation for politically charged sermons during his time as governor of the Bank of England, including his views on the financial risks of climate change. In his latest book, Values, Mr. Carney offers a harsh critique of capitalism and the proposition that markets should serve citizens.
Christy Clark
Christy Clark was the leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party until 2017. It is a smaller party that is not directly affiliated with the National Liberal Party and is considered more politically right-wing.
Mr. Clark served as Premier of British Columbia from 2011 to 2017. She left politics that year after the minority government lost a vote of confidence.
Clark, a former radio show host and critic of Prime Minister Trudeau, has said he is interested in leading the national Liberal Party but has not yet confirmed whether he will run.
Who came out?
Trudeau’s longtime friend Dominic LeBlanc, who became finance minister when Freeland resigned, was seen as the frontrunner in the leadership race. But he put campaign rumors to rest when he announced that he would not seek the nomination two days after Trudeau resigned. Instead, Mr LeBlanc said he intended to run for parliament under a new Liberal leader in the next federal election.
Mr. LeBlanc was first elected to Congress in 2000.
