News Analysis
Most, if not all, expected major contenders have now entered the Liberal Party leadership race and have given hints of where they would take their party and country if crowned winner.
How they would manage the economy and deal with the new U.S. administration and its tariff threat have been recurring themes over the past few days as the leadership hopefuls made their first pitches to party members and Canadians.
The contenders face the daunting task of distancing themselves from a government they have served for many years; a government which has lost the confidence of opposition parties and is led by a party facing electoral defeat.
Former central banker Mark Carney has quickly attempted to distance himself from the government and the political world, calling himself an “outsider” during an appearance on “The Daily Show” last week. He had yet to announce his candidacy at that time but did so a few days later.
Carney was asked by reporters during his Jan. 16 launch why he calls himself an outsider when he has been informally advising the Liberal government for years. He was also formally appointed special economic advisor to Justin Trudeau in September.
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Carney said there’s a “pretty big difference” between providing occasional advice and being a member of the cabinet or caucus. “Look, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, the president of France, other leaders ask for my advice. From time to time, I’ve provided advice to this government,” he said.
Carney previously served as chief of the central banks of Canada and England, and occupied a number of corporate board roles before launching his bid. He has also led climate finance initiatives with the United Nations and supports transitioning away from fossil fuels.
During his announcement in Edmonton, Carney said the system is “not working as it should” and that he would be “completely focused on getting our economy back on track.” He said Canada’s full potential can’t be realized with “ideas of the far-left,” which “too often see government as the solution to every problem.”
“We can’t redistribute what we don’t have, and we can’t support the vulnerable in our society or defend this great country if we have a weak economy,” he said.
Some of those same themes have been emphasized by Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre over the past two years, but Carney criticized the Tory leader, calling him a “lifelong” politician with “naive and dangerous ideas.”
Carney didn’t outline his own policies, saying they would be presented in the coming days, but he criticized Ottawa for spending “too much” and investing “too little,” and said taxes for the middle class are “too high.”
Carney didn’t commit to a position on the future of the country’s carbon tax, only saying that if it were to be removed it should be replaced “with something that is at least, if not more, effective.”
Poilievre refers to him as “Carbon tax Carney” for having been a staunch advocate of the fuel surcharge’s implementation.
A poll by Léger released last week, conducted while some contenders had yet to announce or drop out, suggested Carney was the preferred candidate among Liberal supporters, at 27 percent.
Former cabinet minister Chrystia Freeland, who launched her leadership bid on Jan. 19, came in second in the poll with 21 percent support. Former Government House Leader Karina Gould obtained 1 percent, while Liberal MP Chandra Arya garnered 3 percent. The survey included other names such as former B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who are not running.
‘Fiscal Responsibility’
Freeland resigned as deputy prime minister and finance minister on Dec. 16, hours before she was scheduled to deliver the Fall Economic Statement. In a resignation letter to Trudeau that she made public, she said the prime minister told her she would be removed from the finance portfolio.
Freeland also wrote she didn’t see eye-to-eye with Trudeau on managing the country’s finances.
“For me, fiscal responsibility is very, very important. This is the main reason why there was a disagreement between me and the current prime minister,” she said during her Jan. 19 campaign launch in Toronto.
Freeland posted consecutive large deficits as finance minister, with the latest budget update blowing past the guardrails she had established.
She told supporters at her campaign launch that Canadians expect the government to “relentlessly focus” on the economy.
“They want a government that is as careful with Canada’s money as Canadians are with their own,” she said, adding this is especially the case given the threat of tariffs from the new U.S. administration.
Much of Freeland’s launch revolved around casting herself as the best candidate to face U.S. President Donald Trump. She promised to retaliate dollar-for-dollar against Trump’s tariff threat and to “inflict the biggest trade blow that the United States has ever endured.”
Freeland said the reason why Trump “really” doesn’t like her is because she stood up for Canada and won. “As foreign minister, I stood up to Donald Trump, I led the fight to save NAFTA and Canadian jobs,” she said.
Trump had reacted to Freeland’s resignation by saying she would “not be missed!!!”
Trump was inaugurated as 47th president on Jan. 20 and didn’t immediately announce new tariffs, instead saying they could be imposed on Feb. 1.
Freeland is also known for defending the carbon tax multiple times as minister, saying most Canadians get more back in carbon rebates. She said on Jan. 19 that Liberals will continue to fight against climate change but that the price on pollution is not resonating with Canadians.
“We have heard very clearly from Canadians in provinces where there is a consumer facing price on carbon that they don’t like it, that’s something that we have to listen to,” she said. “Democracy means when people tell you something, you have to listen.”
Freeland and Carney appear to be the top contenders in the race. The two are long-time friends, with Carney being godfather to her son. Carney has also provided advice to Freeland on managing the economy.
“He’s someone who I talk to often and whom I talk to often about economic policy since becoming finance minister,” Freeland said in September when Carney became Trudeau’s official economic advisor.
‘Grassroots’
Karina Gould, Freeland’s former colleague in cabinet who served as government House leader, also launched her own campaign on Jan. 19.
She called herself a “grassroots politician” and said Canadians have “lost trust” in the Liberal Party. She said the party needs to be rebuilt and encouraged members to put ideas forward.
Gould, in a rare reference to the economy in her announcement speech, said she wants Canadians to have “a good job that gives you the confidence and the comfort to know that you can pay the bills that you need to pay.”
Asked by reporters how she would handle the tariff threat, given she has never held an economic portfolio, Gould noted she sat on relevant cabinet committees and served as minister of families and as minister of international development.
She also said she’s a mother who goes grocery shopping and lives in this economy. “I’m a person who understands what Canadians are going through,” she said.
Gould also distanced herself from the government position on the carbon tax, pledging she would cancel the planned hike on April 1.
“I understand that the price on pollution is something that a lot of Canadians don’t feel speaks to what and how they think they can contribute and how they can make a difference” on climate change, she said.
Leadership hopefuls have until Jan. 23 to file their candidacy. The Liberal Party says the next leader will be chosen on March 9.
