And they’re off
The Liberal leadership race kicked off this past week, with numerous would-be successors to Justin Trudeau throwing their hats into the ring—or not.
The first thing all Canadians should recognize about the Liberal leadership race is, whoever succeeds Justin Trudeau will become Canada’s next Prime Minister—however briefly. The second is, there is nothing whatsoever that distinguishes any of the declared candidates from the man they are now seeking to replace.
They are all Justin Trudeau.
While all will try in their own ways to distance themselves from Trudeau and his legacy—particularly his less popular policy choices like the carbon tax—it is important to remember that.
Not one of them ever stood up to him. When he broke the law or some new scandal broke, they defended him and excused his actions. They were his cheerleaders, and they happily did his bidding and turned a blind eye to his behavior as long as it kept them in positions of power and influence.
Now that Trudeau is leaving, they are trying to distance themselves and make the case that they will take the country in a new direction. Don’t believe it for a minute.
Everyone in the race is Justin Trudeau.
Let’s start with his right-hand woman, former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Dubbed the “minister of everything” Freeland has been a constant presence at Trudeau’s side.
Freeland held several positions in Trudeau’s Cabinet since 2015; first as Minister of International Trade, then as Minister of Foreign Affairs where she helped negotiate the new NAFTA deal (CUSMA) with the first Trump Administration. In 2019, she was named Deputy Prime Minister (which came with the portfolio of Intergovernmental Affairs), and the following year she was named Finance Minister.
While her resume and rise in government may appear impressive, when we look at results that argument quickly disappears.
As Foreign Affairs Minister she did oversee CUSMA negotiations, but her inflammatory behavior and sanctimonious style so incensed the Trump administration that upon her resignation from Trudeau’s Cabinet the former (now) President tweeted that she was “toxic” and wouldn’t be missed.
Freeland oversaw the implementation of numerus disastrous policies including introducing the government’s arbitrary firearms restrictions, leading the federal government’s COVID-19 response including the illegal invocation of the Emergencies Act. She also ran unprecedented deficits and added approximately half-a-trillion dollars to Canada’s national debt. Finally, her resignation was not the result of any principled stand but a cold-calculated political takedown of her former boss and mentor when he informed her he was replacing her in the Finance portfolio with Mark Carney.
Lack of competency aside, Freeland’s entire pitch to Canadians seems to be “vote for me; Trump hates me”.
At a time when the incoming US President is threatening massive tariffs on Canada, electing a leader he (and for that matter much of Canada) loathes is not in Canada’s best interest.
Current Government House Leader Karina Gould has also announced a leadership bid.
Since 2017, Gould has served as Minister of Democratic Institutions, Minister of International development—where she tightened ties between Canada and the WHO and Minister of Families, Children and Social development where she invited Americans to come to Canada to get abortions and oversaw the complete collapse of Passport Canada. Like Freeland, she has also been one of Trudeau’s closest allies and cheerleaders.
Gould stated in her campaign launch that President Trump “won’t listen to journalists (Freeland) or central bankers (Carney).” I agree. However, I also cannot think of a single reason why he would listen to her.
Likewise, such other unknowns as Frank Baylis, Chandra Arya, and Jamie Battiste.
Which brings us to Mark Carney.
The former central banker is likely the man to beat in this race.
Former head of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, Carney has long flirted with politics. However, while Mr. Carney undoubtedly has a better understanding of economics and numbers than Trudeau—and for that matter the collective knowledge of the rest of the field of candidates to replace him combined—he is largely untested in the political arena. He’s never run for office, and he’s run away whenever things got politically hot. His only prior foray into the political ring saw him get roughed up by (then) Finance Critic Pierre Poilievre who questioned how he could oppose Canada’s energy sector and support carbon pricing (he wrote in his book that Trudeau’s carbon tax was “a model for the world”) when his own company has invested billions in oil pipelines in Brazil and the Middle East. What he (Poilievre) called the “double standard typical of elite Davos hypocrisy”.
Carney has also come under fire for his company asking for $10 billion taxpayer dollars as soon as he was named as the PM’s special economic advisor, a clear conflict of interest.
Oh, and did I mention his campaign is being led by Gerry Butts, the man who brought you Justin Trudeau. They are all Justin Trudeau.