By: Alizeh Sohail
Subtext: One of Canada’s largest political parties, the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC), is set to pick its new leader on March 9, 2025, after more than a decade under the leadership of ex-prime minister Justin Trudeau. The new leader will become Prime Minister effective immediately and if successfully leads the Liberals through the general elections, will secure another four years of governance for the 9-years strong Liberal Party of Canada.
Overview
Former Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau resigned on January 6, 2025, triggering a leadership race for the Liberal party. According to the Liberals Canada constitution, anyone who is registered as a member of Liberals Canada may vote for the party’s new leadership and our prime minister provided, they have signed up at least 40 days prior to the election date, in this case, January 27, 2025. Voting in the party’s leadership contest is done through ranked ballots, which means that voters have the choice to vote for their most preferred candidate to the least preferred. According to Article 46(e), the candidate who receives the lowest number of first preference ballots will be eliminated and their “points” from the ridings in which they did receive first preference will be distributed among the second preferred candidate. This ensures voters’ second preferences are also taken into account when counting the ballots, unlike in general elections where the candidate with the plurality of votes wins the riding even if they win by a small margin from the runner-up.
As of now four candidates are actively seeking to be elected as Canada’s Prime Minister and the Liberal Party’s leader: Member of Parliament (MP) Karina Gould, former deputy prime minister MP Chrystia Freeland, former MP Frank Baylis, and former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney. There were also other candidates at the beginning—MP Arya Chandra, but he was disqualified out of the leadership race by the Liberal Party on January 26, MP Jaime Battiste who withdrew on January 30 and endorsed Mark Carney, and former MP Ruby Dhalla who was also disqualified by the party on February 21, 2025.
In this article, we have compiled detailed descriptions of the former roles and experiences of the leadership candidates, their key policy proposals, and a list of their endorsements to help guide your voting decision. At the end, we have provided a table with a quick snapshot of their viewpoints on some key policy issues. Links to the original statements are embedded in the text.
Chrystia Freeland’s career in politics started in 2013 with her election to the House of Commons during a by-election in the riding of Toronto Centre. Then in the 2015 elections when Justin Trudeau became prime minister, she was elected again and was appointed as the minister of international trade, in whose capacity she negotiated the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union. Thereafter, from 2017 to 2019, she was appointed as the minister of international affairs. Notable achievements during this period include sponsoring Bill C-47 which paved the way for Canada to sign the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), stipulating that member states ensure their weapons exports are not used in human rights abuses and terrorism. From 2019 to 2024, she served as Canada’s deputy prime minister, taking on other significant roles during this period such as intergovernmental affairs minister (2019-20) and finance minister (2020-24) to former PM Justin Trudeau. She was at the forefront of Canada’s response to the Russo-Ukraine War, which included sending aid and weapons to Ukraine, sanctioning Russia, and hosting Ukrainian refugees. She also pioneered the National Child Care program, led Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and negotiated the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), the successor to NAFTA. Prior to her career in politics, Freeland worked as journalist and worked on files examining Soviet war crimes in Ukraine and oligarchy in Russia.
Chrystia Freeland promises to decentralize party politics by instituting more accountability measures for the leader such as open-mic town halls and leadership reviews, ensure strong regional representation in the party, to review the party’s membership and build a strong vision within its membership, restore a full-time paid national director of the Young Liberals of Canada, and to establish a policy process whereby grassroots Liberals members can provide recommendations directly to the Leader and the Caucus.
Her candidacy is endorsed by the Health Minister Hon. Mark Holland, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Hon. Arif Virani, MP Yvan Baker, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Hon. Diane Lebouthillier, the Minister of International Development Hon. Ahmed Hussen, MP Dan Vandal, MP Rob Oliphant, MP Randy Boissonnault, MP Julie Dabrusin, MP James Maloney, MP Jean Yip, Special Advisor on Jewish Community Relations and Antisemitism MP Anthony Housefather, MP Terry Beech, former MP John Aldag, former Minister of National Revenue MP Marie-Claude Bibeau, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Lloyd Axworthy, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Allan Rock, MP Michael Coteau, MP Stéphane Lauzon, MP Lena Metledge Diab, former MP Wayne Easter, former MP Scott Simms, MP Alexandra Mendés, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons MP Kevin Lamoureux, MP Ben Carr and MP Hedy Fry.
Mark Carney is an economist by training and has held prominent government positions such as senior associate deputy minister in the Department of Finance (2004-2007), governor of the Bank of Canada (2008-2013), and governor of the Bank of England (2013-2020). He guided Bank of Canada’s policies during the 2008 financial crisis by lowering overnight interest rates and freezing them for a year, resulting in a much quicker recovery to pre-crisis GDP and employment levels relative to European and American markets. His successful monetary policies led to his appointment in 2011 as chairman of Financial Stability Board, an international body which coordinates international financial regulatory authorities. Prior to his career in the Department of Finance, he worked for 13 years at Goldman Sachs, occupying senior positions as managing director for investment banking. Following his governorships, Carney worked in Brookfield Asset Management as the vice chairman and led its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impact fund strategy. In 2020, he was appointed as the UN special envoy for climate action and finance and was appointed by the United Kingdom as the finance advisor to its presidency of the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Carney employs a neoliberal market paradigm to climate action and has launched several initiatives for example, “The Taskforce for Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets”. In a recent interview, he stated his views on Canada’s climate policy that the burden of emissions reductions must be borne by the fossil fuel industry instead of ordinary Canadians’ lifestyle changes. In September 2024, Carney was appointed by the Liberal Party of Canada as the chairman of the Leader’s Taskforce on Economic Growth Policy.
Mark Carney’s policy plans include a new climate plan with proposals such as removing the carbon tax, giving financial incentives to consumers to encourage energy efficient purchases like EVs, investment in clean infrastructure, and disincentivizing large carbon dioxide emitters. He plans to build “the biggest economy in the G7”, to ensure Canadian industries are competitive in the global market, and to diversify our trade partners. In response to US President’s tariffs, Carney proposed to respond with dollar-for-dollar tariffs towards American products and a campaign to support Canadian businesses.
His candidacy has been endorsed by more than fifty (50) current and former Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries, and MPs. Their details are as follows: the Minister of Public Services and Procurement Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, the Minister of Seniors Hon. Joanne Thompson, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Hon. Marc Miller, the Minister of National Revenue Hon. Élisabeth Brière, the Minister of International Affairs Hon. Melanie Joly, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Hon. François-Philippe Champagne, the Minister for Housing, Infrastructure, and Communities Hon. Nathaniel-Erskine Smith, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality Hon. Marci Ien, the Minister of Transport and Internal Trade Hon. Anita Anand, the Minister for Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs and the Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency Hon. Gary Anandasangaree, the Minister for Energy and Natural Resources Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, the Minister for Small Business Hon. Rechie Valdez, the Minister for Rural Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Hon. Gudie Hutchings, the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion, and Persons with Disabilities Hon. Kamal Khera, the Minister of Employment, Workforce, Development, and Labor Hon. Steven MacKinnon, the Minister of Indigenous Services Hon. Patty Hajdu, the Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada Hon. Harjit Sajjan, President of the Treasury Board MP Ginette Petitpas Taylor, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Marc Garneau, leader of the Ontario Liberal Party Bonnie Crombie, MP Joël Lightbound, MP Salma Zahid, MP Sameer Zuberi, MP Shafqat Ali, MP Arielle Kayabaga, MP Paul Chiang, MP David McGuinty, MP Francesco Sorbara, MP Tim Louis, MP Irek Kusmierczyk, MP Kody Blois, MP Wayne Long, MP Sherry Romanado, MP Chad Collins, MP Ryan Turnbull, MP Darren Fisher, MP Mike Kelloway, MP Heath MacDonald, MP Chris Bittle, MP Darrell Samson, MP Joyce Murray, MP Ali Ehsassi, MP Parm Bains, MP Maninder Sidhu, MP Ruby Sahota, MP Adam van Koeverden, MP Patrick Weiler, MP Seamus O’Regan, MP Valerie Bradford, MP Jenna Sudds, MP Viviane Lapointe, MP Randeep Sarai, former MP Brian Tobin, MP George Chahal, MP Sean Fraser, MP Sukh Dhaliwal and others. So far, Mark Carney stands as the most endorsed candidate.
Karina Gould began her career in politics in 2015, becoming the Member of Parliament for the riding of Burlington by defeating the incumbent Conservative candidate. Soon afterwards, she became the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development and in this role, she chaired a foreign aid strategy conference wherein she stressed the importance of empowering women and girls using a feminist approach to foreign aid. In 2017, she became the Minister of Democratic Institutions, thereby becoming the youngest woman in Canadian history to ever be a Cabinet minister. Her role was instrumental in the passage of Bill C-76 (Elections Modernization Act) which made elections more accessible, reduced third-party interference in campaigns, and prohibited foreign entities spending on Canadian elections. During this time, she gave birth and took maternity leave, being the first sitting Cabinet minister ever to do so. In 2019, she was re-elected as MP and became the Minister of International Development. She led Canada’s efforts to combat COVID-19 and advance gender equality and women’s reproductive rights. In the 2021 Cabinet shuffle, Gould became the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development. In this role, she was responsible for implementing a Canada-wide affordable daycare plan and for advancing Indigenous communities’ rights for receiving culturally appropriate early childhood learning. She became the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons in 2023 and remained in that role until her resignation in January 2025 when she announced her leadership bid.
Her policy proposals include increasing the Canadian Armed Forces’ salaries, keeping GST off of children's items, cutting the GST by one point to 4% for one year, raising corporate taxes, building more competitive markets, supporting startups, shifting the burden of carbon pollution from consumers to industries, ending homelessness, boosting the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive, building more climate-friendly housing units, and engaging Young Liberals across the country.
She has been endorsed by former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Irwin Cotler, former MP and Toronto City councillor Adam Vaughan, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Hon. Ya’ara Saks, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Pam Damoff.
Frank Baylis was an MP for the riding of Pierrefonds-Dollard from 2015-2019. He was a founding member of the Black Caucus and member of several parliamentary committees like Ethics and Privacy, Industry, and Foreign Affairs. He has a family background in medical devices entrepreneurship; in 1989 he joined Baylis Medical Company, founded by his mother who was a nurse. Under his leadership the company grew from a medical devices distributor to a developer, manufacturer and seller of proprietary medical devices. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his company urgently produced ventilator machines for FTI Professional Grade Inc., which was contracted by the Federal Government of Canada. In 2021, Frank Baylis and his business partner sold their cardiovascular devices business to an American firm for $1.75 billion USD, making them one of the most successful Canadian medical device entrepreneurs. He won several business leadership awards. Frank Baylis currently serves as the Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors for a spinoff company, Baylis Medical Technologies, headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario. He also co-founded a consulting firm “OME Group” in 1991 and remained its president until its sale in 2011. He is a co-founder of Walk of Fame Entertainment, a film production company. He has also written and produced several feature films, including “Transit” (2008) "Generation Wolf" (2016) and "Undocumented" (2023).
His campaign focuses on affordability for Canadians, improved access to healthcare and innovation in medical services, and government reforms to loosen party restrictions and allow more petitions to be heard in the House of Commons. More specifically, he proposes to set 10-year term limits on MPs, to create a second debating chamber to speed up legislative processes and letting the Speaker instead of party leader decide who gets to speak in the House. His candidacy has been endorsed by former MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes.
