The Liberal Party head's popularity started dipping two years ago amid public anger over high prices and a housing shortage.
New York/Ottawa: The race to be Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's successor has begun after the Liberal Party leader resigned amid a looming trade war with the United States and a divisive political climate at home.
Canada could get its successor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by the first week of March so the person has enough time to prepare before Parliament meets in the last week of the month. The schedule for the leadership race of the Liberal Party is expected to be announced within days.
US President-elect Donald Trump ally Elon Musk has thrown his support behind Trudeau's rival, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, for Prime Minister. Historically, the party has almost exclusively drawn its leaders from Ontario and Quebec, but three of the possible candidates — Chrystia Freeland, Mark Carney and Christy Clark — all have ties to western Canada, which could expand the party's appeal in a region-dominated by the Conservatives.
Freeland has established herself as a reliable and longstanding member of Trudeau's Cabinet since he became PM in 2015, serving in several Cabinet portfolios including foreign affairs and international trade. She is known for deftly renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with the first Trump administration, which secured Canadian access to the US market despite Trump's politics.
Carney, the former Bank of England and Bank of Canada governor, has long been floated as a potential cabinet minister, with Trudeau confirming in 2024 that he had been encouraging him to enter federal politics; indeed, relations between Freeland and Trudeau were also understood to have deteriorated amid allegations he wanted to replace her with Carney.
Clark, the former premier of British Columbia, has also emerged as a possible contender given her past experience -- and her distance from Trudeau. A fiscally conservative politician, Clark served as premier from 2011 to 2017 and leader of the BC Liberal party which is unaffiliated with the federal Liberals.
Indian-origin Anita Anand, elected in 2019 and now Transport Minister, quickly took on a pivotal role during the Covid pandemic, with responsibility as procurement minister for buying vaccines and PPE. She then became Defense Minister, leading Canada's response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as the government's response to a review of sexual misconduct allegations within the military.
On January 9, another Indian-origin Canadian MP, Chandra Arya, officially announced his candidacy for the position of Prime Minister of Canada in the upcoming federal elections. Announcing his bid to run for Prime Minister of Canada in a post on X, Arya said, “I am running to be the next Prime Minister of Canada to lead a small, more efficient government to rebuild our nation and secure prosperity for future generations.”
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who was considered among the frontrunners, has said that he will not be in the contest to succeed Trudeau.
Trump has proposed the idea of using "economic force" to merge Canada and the United States, creating what he frequently describes as the "51st state.” He cited reasons such as military assistance provided by the US and trade deficits between the two nations to support his suggestion.
Trudeau dismissed the suggestion, responding firmly, "There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States. Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other's biggest trading and security partners."
Nijjar's murder: 4 Indians granted bailToronto: Four Indian nationals, accused of killing pro-Khalistan Sikh radical Hardeep Singh Nijjar, have been granted bail by a Canadian court. The four accused Indian citizens - Karan Brar, Amandeep Singh, Kamalpreet Singh, and Karanpreet Singh - were booked for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. While Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh, and Karanpreet Singh, were arrested from Edmonton in May last year, Amardeep Singh, a resident of Brampton in Surrey was held a few days later. The trial of the four accused has now been shifted to the British Columbia Supreme Court and the next hearing has been scheduled for February 11. The bail was granted to the four accused due to the lack of evidence, sources said. Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was killed outside a Gurdwara on June 18, 2023, in Surrey, British Columbia. The relations between India and Canada came under severe strain after Ottawa alleged involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar. New Delhi vehemently denied all the allegations. |