Seven candidates filed their papers yesterday prior to the deadline for the federal Liberal leadership.
They include Chandra Arya, Jaime Battiste, Frank Baylis, Mark Carney, Ruby Dhalla, Chrystia Freeland and Karina Gould.
The candidates are now jockeying for support with Carney, Freeland and Gould each receiving backing from a number of sitting MPs.
The leadership vote takes place March 9th, leaving the new leader little time to get ready for the next sitting of parliament.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prorogued parliament until March 24th. He will step down as Prime Minister and party leader once a new leader has been chosen.
Among the priorities of the new leader will be to tackle the economic uncertainty created by Donald Trump’s expected trade tariffs of Canadian goods.
Hannah Thibedeau courtesy globalpublicaffairs.ca
Executive Communications Officer with Global Public Affairs, Hannah Thibedeau told the Tim Powers Show on VOCM that among Liberal insiders the race is Mark Carney’s to lose.
She says whoever is chosen will have to handle tense economic relations with the United States and take on a possible election campaign, the focus of which has changed significantly.
That, says Thibedeau, puts greater pressure on the Conservatives as well.
“I think the Conservatives are going ‘the last two years we’ve spent setting up this election campaign as a fight against Justin Trudeau and a fight of axing the carbon tax,'” says Thibedeau, “now those two things are off. They don’t have that narrative anymore and I think they’re trying to re-think what they’re strong narrative is.”
