New Delhi: Justin Trudeau’s resignation as the Canadian prime minister Monday has set off a leadership scramble within the Liberal Party. A former central banker, a former deputy prime minister and multiple current cabinet ministers are in the running to replace Trudeau as the next leader of Canada.
Polling numbers have been nosediving for the Liberal Party amid a cost of living crisis that has been hurting Canadians across the country. Furthermore, the Liberal Party’s open immigration policy led to an influx of immigrants, which further exacerbated the housing situation.
During his tenure, Trudeau tried to introduce a number of policies, including course correction on the Liberals’ immigration policies. However, it has not been enough, with the Conservatives opening a 20 percentage-point lead over the party, according to some polls. This leaves the next leader of Liberal Party and Canadian prime minister only months to introduce themselves to the public before the elections, which are to be held towards the end of this year.
The next leader also has to convince one of the other parties in the House of Commons, either Jagmeet Singh’s New Democrats or the Bloc Quebecois, to be able to maintain its minority government. The party has only 153 seats out of 338 in the House of Commons.
Singh, who had helped the Liberals govern since the 2021 elections, slammed the party in a statement following Trudeau’s resignation. The leader of the NDP claimed that it does not matter who led the Liberals, “they do not deserve another chance”.
ThePrint looks at the top contenders in the race to become the next prime minister of Canada from the Liberal Party.
Chrystia Freeland
The former deputy prime minister and country’s first female finance minister was one of the most powerful members of Trudeau’s cabinet until her exit last month. A former journalist with roots in Ukraine, Freeland was a top recruit for the incumbent prime minister of Canada as he focused on rebuilding the Liberal Party, following its wipeout in the 2011 federal election.
A member of parliament since 2013—replacing former Liberal leader Bob Rae in a riding (constituency) in Toronto—Freeland had been a member of Trudeau’s cabinet since 2015 until her abrupt resignation on 16 December, 2024.
Freeland was Canada’s top negotiator during the renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during the first presidency of Donald J. Trump, and is considered to be one of the most viable candidates to replace Trudeau, given her national recognition, according to Politico.
Her resignation is considered to be one of the biggest setbacks to Trudeau as prime minister, especially her letter calling out his recent policies “political gimmicks”. However, as media reports point out, she is not considered who Canadians could relate to, especially after her comment about how she cancelled the family’s Disney+ subscription due to the cost of living crisis.
Mark Carney
A former central banker, Carney has been feted by Trudeau over the last many months as the next finance minister of Canada. He has been an economic adviser to Trudeau and has a strong economic reputation with his history of working for the Bank of Canada and as the governor of the Bank of England.
However, he has little political experience. Carney was appointed by former UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, as the finance adviser for COP26 in Glasgow in 2021. His economic reputation would be considered an asset as the Liberal Party has been taking a beating in the polls over their economic record, especially owing to the cost of living crisis.
Carney has also backed a number of Trudeau’s policies, including the carbon tax, a major Liberal initiative that has been the focus of the ire of the leader of the Conservatives, Pierre Poilievre. Poilievre has been running a campaign on the slogan of “ax the tax”.
The former central banker has never run for office.
Mélanie Joly
The current foreign affairs minister of Canada, Joly is a very recognisable Liberal leader, also from Montreal. Trudeau represents a riding from Montreal, similar to Joly, who was one of his top recruits to the House of Commons.
She has been the foreign affairs minister since 2021, and for Indians, an extremely recognisable leader, given that she has often led the allegations against New Delhi and its links with the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
According to Politico, Joly is a veteran political organiser with strong links to Senator Lindsey Graham of the US. She also visited Mar-a-Lago in the US in the last week of December 2024 to discuss ties between the two countries with Trump’s campaign team.
She is a known leader from Quebec—a province which has been a cornerstone for the Liberal Party, especially under Trudeau.
Anita Anand
The incumbent transport minister of Canada, with Indian parents (a Tamilian father and Punjabi mother), has quickly risen through the ranks of the Liberal Party since first becoming a member of parliament in 2019.
Made a rookie minister during her first term as an MP, Anand oversaw the procurement system during the COVID-19 pandemic, which included the distribution of the vaccines. In October 2021, she replaced Harjit Sajjan as the minister of defence, a post she remained at for nearly two years, before being shuffled out to become the president of the treasury board.
The 57-year old lawyer represents a riding just outside of Toronto—Oakville—and was made the minister of transport in September 2024, and the minister of internal trade during the December reshuffle.
According to media reports, Anand led the defence ministry during the start of the war in Ukraine. Ottawa has been one of the biggest supporters of Ukraine since.
Dominic LeBlanc
The current finance minister of Canada, LeBlanc has been one of Trudeau’s most well-known allies, even baby-sitting the outgoing prime minister as a child. He is considered to be Trudeau’s “fixer”, according to media reports, stepping into difficult portfolios, including taking on the finance ministry within hours of Freeland’s abrupt departure.
The 57-year old former lawyer has been in the House of Commons for over two decades—with his father Romeo LeBlanc, a former governor general of the country, and a former cabinet minister under Trudeau’s father, Pierre Trudeau.
LeBlanc has visited Trump twice at Mar-a-Lago since the November election results and has been focusing on building ties with the incoming American administration. He has been a leader of the party in the House of Commons, and held multiple portfolios in government, including public safety, infrastructure and communities, fisheries, and northern affairs, besides serving as president of the privy council.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
Also read: Trump effect: Canada tightens immigration screws further, new curbs announced