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After being repeatedly interrupted by pro-Palestinian activists, former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland was able to launch her candidacy in person in the race for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC).
“We will not let anyone disrupt our democracy. […] We need a diversity of points of view in our country,” reacted Ms. Freeland after a while, struggling to get back on track with her speech. Early in her speech at a Toronto gymnasium, the former Liberal minister was interrupted by a protester. Others, one after the other, followed suit, some climbing onto the stage, others brandishing posters or a Palestinian flag.
Each time, the Liberals in the room – many of them elected officials flanked by the aspiring leader – drowned out the protesters’ cries with applause as the demonstrators were escorted out.She is launching her candidacy more than a month after slamming the door of the cabinet due to a falling out with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and on the eve of the return of American President Donald Trump to the White House.
Joly supports Carney
Minutes before the official launch of Ms. Freeland’s campaign, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly gave her support to former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney in the race for the leadership of the Liberal Party.
“Mark brings unparalleled economic experience,” Joly wrote in a statement posted on X, citing Carney’s previous roles as governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England. “In times of crisis, governments of all stripes” have turned to him, including during the 2008 economic crisis and Brexit, argued the woman who had considered running before giving up .
Mélanie Joly also believes that he is “best placed” to defeat Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who is currently leading in the polls. According to the elected official, Mr. Poilievre “has demonstrated no vision for the future of Canada and […] will not stand up to the new American administration,” about threats by the American president-elect, Donald Trump, to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian products. On this point, she assures that she has “confidence in Mark to defend Canada’s interests, by relying on a strong ‘Team Canada’.”
Just as when Ms. Joly announced that she would not run in the race to succeed Justin Trudeau, she claims to “dedicate all [her] energy to defending Canada’s interests against the threat of tariffs from President [designate] Trump” in the exercise of her functions as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
To differentiate herself from the other front-runners in the race, Mark Carney, and the other leadership candidates, Chrystia Freeland is trying to use her experience of successful negotiations with the first Trump administration.
Karina Gould bets on her youth
Meanwhile, the government’s House leader, Karina Gould, launched her campaign to become the next leader of the Liberal Party, at a rally in her riding of Burlington, Ontario, by banking on her youth.It’s time for a new generation of leaders,” the 37-year-old insisted. “A generation of leaders that brings people together, that reaches out to those who feel like they’ve been left behind, a generation of leaders that’s not going to stand behind a podium and read a speech that somebody else has prepared. No. Someone who speaks from the heart,” she said.
Gould, who said she would step down as government House leader to focus on the campaign, also announced she is proposing to immediately cancel the increase in the price of pollution, also known as the “carbon tax,” ahead of the April 1 hike. We’re going to continue to fight climate change, but I understand that’s not necessarily the way [Canadians] want to do it. We have to make those tough choices,” she said.
Gould is joining Carney, who has also pledged to repeal the carbon price on consumers if he becomes Liberal leader and replace it with a “comprehensive plan” that he has promised to release in the coming weeks. The aspiring candidate explained that Ottawa must give Canadians a boost to buy electric vehicles or to reduce their home emissions. In the same breath, she insisted that “we must make the big polluters pay.”
Candidates to replace Justin Trudeau have only until Thursday to declare their candidacy and begin a series of party registration fee payments to enter the race.
With The Canadian Press
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