PLC Management | Champagne will announce his decision on Tuesday, Carney would be ready to formalize his candidacy

(Ottawa) Quebec Minister François-Philippe Champagne plans to announce on Tuesday his decision whether or not to enter the federal Liberal leadership race.

The Minister of Innovation intends to do so during a speech at the Canadian Club in Toronto, a source close to him said on Monday.

The Canadian Press granted this person anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

This source did not want to indicate, in advance, if Mr. Champagne will indicate that he will try to succeed the outgoing Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, or if he will instead announce that he is passing his turn.

According to the media advisory, the event, which will take the form of a “talk” hosted by economic journalist Amanda Lang, will focus on “the themes of artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, economic security, supply chains, critical minerals and energy strategies in the context of the new US administration.

The Liberal Party of Canada (PLC) announced last week that aspiring candidates have until January 23 to formalize their candidacy; the result of the vote will be known on March 9.

Already, on Monday, seven potential candidates for leadership had posted forms on the PLC website to collect the signatures they need.

Each candidate must collect at least 300 signatures from “registered liberals”, including at least 100 from three different provinces or territories.

Former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, former central banker Mark Carney and former British Columbia Premier Christy Clark posted their forms on the LPC website. The same goes for Ministers Karina Gould and Jonathan Wilkinson, Ontario MP Chandra Arya and former Montreal MP Frank Baylis.

Over the weekend, Transport Minister Anita Anand and Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon decided not to run for the leadership. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, and the Minister of Finance, Dominic LeBlanc, did so a little earlier last week.

Former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney could confirm this week that he will run; he would have already made his intentions known to his campaign team. Liberal organizers have been trying for ten years to integrate this star technocrat from the world of global finance into the party. Over the summer, Mr Carney took on a role as the party’s economic adviser.

Former British Columbia premier Christy Clark is also considering running. In interview on the show The House from CBC Radio, she mentioned that her thoughts were “very serious”, but she admitted that she was disappointed with the short timetable of the race.

So far, former MP Frank Baylis and Ontario MP Chandra Arya are the only ones to have publicly declared their intention to enter the race.