Former finance minister-turned-cabinet-turned-disruptor Chrystia Freeland kicked off her campaign to be the next Liberal leader today at a career launch in Toronto.
He announced his candidacy on social media late last week, saying simply that he was “running to fight for Canada.”
Freeland’s campaign launch comes nearly a month after she resigned from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet and a day before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office, two factors in which Freeland is likely will be supported as he seeks the highest position.
The former deputy prime minister resigned from cabinet in mid-December, sending shock waves through Ottawa and galvanizing a group to oust Trudeau.
In a letter to the prime minister that was later posted on social media, Freeland said she had no choice but to resign after Trudeau approached her about moving to another cabinet position.
Her scathing resignation letter, sent on the same day she was originally due to deliver the Liberals’ fall economic statement, took aim at Trudeau’s handling of the economy, his approach to Trump and denounced in the letter what she called the ” expensive political tricks” of the government. ”
writing on friday toronto starFreeland mocked the tone she would use against Trump’s threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian imports when she takes office, suggesting Canada will unleash “the biggest trade blow the American economy has ever endured.”
“While it may be tempting to turn the other cheek, we must take President Trump at his word. Hope is not a strategy and capitulation is not an option,” Freeland wrote.
Freeland led Canada’s negotiating team during Trump’s first term, when the North American Free Trade Agreement was in jeopardy.
After her resignation, Trump took to social media to call Freeland “toxic.”
Race to replace prime minister heats up
Freeland will face central banker Mark Carney, who presents himself as someone who can guide Canada through economic uncertainty.
“I’m not the usual suspect when it comes to politics, but this is not the time for politics as usual,” he said at his Thursday appearance in Edmonton.
Government House Leader Karina Gould confirmed Saturday that she too is running, making her the youngest candidate yet to throw her hat in the ring to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
MP Chandra Arya, who represents Nepean in the Ottawa area; former Montreal MP and businessman Frank Baylis; and MP Jaime Battiste, who represents Sydney-Victoria, Nova Scotia, have declared they are running for leadership.
Candidates only have until January 23 to declare that they are running and begin a series of party registration fee payments so they can join the race. The party will elect its next leader, who will serve as the next prime minister, on March 9.
