(Ottawa) Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday that he would not run in his Montreal riding of Papineau in the next general election.
Posted at 1:10 p.m.
Updated at 5:10 p.m.
The news comes just over a week after Mr. Trudeau announced he would resign as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.
For his part, Mark Carney will launch his campaign to lead the Liberal Party of Canada in Edmonton on Thursday, indicates a letter of support from Calgary MP George Chahal.
In a note to his supporters inviting them to attend the event, the Liberal MP emphasizes that Mr. Carney is “not a career politician.”
MP Chahal argues that in a time of global challenges and economic opportunities, Mr. Carney has the required experience and leadership skills to meet these challenges and take advantage of the opportunities.
Read the article “A Ghost Named Mark Carney”
Mr. Carney was governor of the Bank of Canada and then of the Bank of England.
Candidates have only about a week left to declare their intention to run to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and current Minister Karina Gould are also expected to launch their campaigns in the coming days.
PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Mark Carney was governor of the Bank of Canada and then the Bank of England.
The Minister of Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, and the Minister of Finance, Dominic LeBlanc, have all ruled out running.
The next Liberal leader will need to quickly ensure the party is ready for a snap general election once the brief leadership race ends on March 9.
The Liberals say they have 129 nominated candidates in 343 federal ridings, while the Conservatives say they have nearly 221 and the New Democrats 93.
The Liberals currently have 153 MPs in the House of Commons, but many key MPs have said they will not seek re-election – including Transport Minister Anita Anand and ex-ministers Marie-Claude Bibeau, Seamus O ‘Regan and Dan Vandal.
University of Toronto political science professor Randy Besco believes the next Liberal leader will have to quickly develop his “campaign machine” because Mr. Trudeau’s inner circle may not be willing to stay in office under the leadership of a new person.
“There aren’t many people qualified to run a national campaign – 10 or 20 across the country. It’s really very little, in fact, compared to the United States or elsewhere, Mr. Besco pointed out. This will be a big challenge for the party. »
The Liberals will not have too much difficulty finding candidates, according to Professor Besco, but they will probably have difficulty attracting “stars”, given the Conservatives’ solid lead in voting intentions.
Candidates who come out late in the race won’t have spent much time knocking on doors and fundraising before the election campaign begins, he said. “It’s also going to be a problem for the liberals. »
