Chrystia Freeland will run for the Liberal leadership

They are the highest-profile candidates in the race so far — but the field is expected to get more crowded soon. Government House leader Karina Gould is expected to launch her campaign in the coming days. Ottawa MP Chandra Arya has said he is running, as has former Montreal MP Frank Baylis.

Potential candidates have less than a week left to decide if they will enter the race, which will conclude on March 9. They have to pay $50,000 immediately and the rest of the $350,000 entrance fee by mid-February to make it onto the ballot.

Freeland resigned from cabinet on Dec. 16 after Trudeau told her he was replacing her with Carney as finance minister. Her resignation and the resulting criticism led Trudeau to announce he would step down as soon as a new leader is chosen.

Carney never did take over the finance portfolio and Dominic LeBlanc was sworn in as finance minister hours after Freeland stepped down.

Freeland, who was leading Canada’s response to U.S. tariff threats until she resigned as finance minister, is making fighting back against U.S. president-elect Donald Trump a key plank of her platform.

In an op-ed in the Toronto Star on Friday, she said Canada won’t back down as Trump vows to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all products coming into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico.

Freeland was a key player in responding to Trump’s tariffs during his first term in the White House. As the minister of foreign affairs she oversaw a dollar-for-dollar tariff response to Trump’s imposition of import taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum in 2018.

Her campaign has said she also wants dollar-for-dollar retaliation against any tariffs this time.

Many Liberal MPs are already lining up behind Freeland and Carney in the contest.

Former cabinet minister Marie-Claude Bibeau posted her support for Freeland on social media shortly after Freeland’s own statement was published.

“She has proven her ability to stand up to President Trump and defend the interests of Quebec’s regions. Chrystia is the leader we need,” said Bibeau, who was in cabinet with Freeland until December, when she was replaced after indicating she won’t be running again in the next election.

Freeland’s other supporters so far include Health Minister Mark Holland and former cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault, Liberal MPs Ben Carr, Ken McDonald, Stéphane Lauzon, Rob Oliphant and Anthony Housefather, and former longtime Liberal MP Wayne Easter.

Housefather posted his endorsement Thursday evening, saying he trusts Freeland “implicitly” to manage Canada’s relationship with the United States. He also said he encourages candidates to drop the Liberal government’s planned changes to the capital gains inclusion rate. The policy was proposed in the last federal budget under Freeland’s tenure as finance minister.

Liberal MPs George Chahal, Sophie Chatel, Salma Zahid, Francesco Sorbara, Wayne Long and Patrick Weiler are among those throwing their support behind Carney.

Other caucus members, such as Immigration Minister Marc Miller, have declined to weigh in.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2025.

by Canadian Press

Chrystia Freeland will run for the Liberal leadership

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