Liberal leadership candidates prepare for Monday night’s French-language debate

Liberal leadership candidates face off Monday night for a French-language debate to be held in Montreal ahead of the March 9 vote, with a second English-language debate on Tuesday.

The winner of the race, to be decided by Liberal party members aged 14+, will become Canada’s next de facto prime minister and will replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau on January 6 admitted his days are numbered as the nation’s leader, but refused to call an election. Instead, he prorogued Parliament — which had already been gridlocked for months because his government refused to hand over corrupted green subsidy documents to the RCMP.

Trudeau told reporters in January the prorogue would give the Liberal party a chance to hold a leadership race.

The Liberal leadership race began with six candidates, who all cleared the $350,000 entry fee. Two candidates, questionably the only two candidates of colour, were disqualified: Chandra Arya and Ruby Dhalla.

The cut-throat contest is now between:

1. Liberal sweetheart Mark Carney, who served as Trudeau’s economic adviser since 2020 and is the former head of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England. He has promised to cut Trudeau’s carbon tax, but replace it with a shadow carbon tax on big industry such as steel — a move economists say will cost Canadians even more.

2. Trudeau’s former Finance minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, whose 2024 budget was $20 billion over her own target. Freeland has tried to distance herself from Trudeau’s policies since her abrupt resignation December 16, despite being Trudeau’s closest minister throughout his tenure in office.

3. Former House leader Karina Gould, who is pushing for increased social programs, including a UBI (Universal Basic Income).

4. Former Liberal MP Frank Baylis, who wants term limits for MPs and senators, build more pipelines and increase green technology subsidies

The party over the weekend announced topics for the debate, after polling its members to identify the hot-button issues.

Candidates will square off over Canada-US relations, Canada's economy, “climate action,” energy, affordability, housing and healthcare.

Dhalla, who on Friday was abruptly removed without notice and found out about during a CBC broadcast, is appealing the Liberals’ decision to remove her.

Carney has secured the most donations so far, though netizens point out they are riddled with conflicts of interest. Another issue raised by commentators is whether Carney qualifies for the Prime Minister’s Office, having been living out of Canada for the last 10 years as governor of the Bank of England.