OTTAWA — Former British Columbia Prime Minister Christy Clark and Quebec Minister François-Philippe Champagne have decided not to try to succeed Justin Trudeau at the head of the Liberal Party of Canada.
The first announced it on Tuesday, shortly before the second did the same in front of the Canadian Club in Toronto.
“It was a difficult decision, but it was the right decision at the right time,” said Mr. Champagne during an interview moderated in front of an audience by economic journalist Amanda Lang.
The Minister of Innovation said he wanted, during a break in French during the event taking place in English, to concentrate entirely on “defending Canada, defending our workers, defending our industry”.
In the language of Shakespeare, Mr. Champagne described the choice he had to make as one of the most difficult of his life.
As for Ms. Clark, she mentions, among the reasons motivating her choice, that she believes she does not have enough time to “connect” as she would like “with French-speaking Canadians in their language”.
“I have worked hard to improve my French, but it is not (at the level) where it should be today,” she wrote in a statement written in English sent to people on a list distribution of its website.
Like Mr. Champagne, she maintains that her decision was “difficult”. “The timing of the Prime Minister’s resignation simply did not leave enough time for the party to put in place a process that will renew and grow our party,” continues the woman who was a anticipated candidate. Our party must always find a way to generate new ‘momentum’.”
She concludes her message with a “thank you very much”, in French.
Aspiring candidates for the leadership of the PLC have until January 23 to formalize their candidacy, while the result of the vote will be known on March 9.
So far, Ontario MP Chandra Arya, former Montreal MP Frank Baylis and Mi’kmaq MP Jaime Battiste have indicated that they intend to be part of the race.
-Ms. Clark and Mr. Champagne are added to the list of prospective candidates who have in turn given up on entering the race, either Ministers Dominic LeBlanc (Finance), Mélanie Joly (Foreign Affairs) and Anita Anand (Transport).
Steven MacKinnon, MP for Gatineau and Minister of Labor who was a newcomer to the list of potential candidates, also decided to pass.
These decisions seem to put the spotlight more on other possible candidates whose names have been circulating for a long time, namely former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and former central bank governor Mark Carney.
Ms. Freeland, who suddenly left cabinet amid disagreements with Mr. Trudeau, is expected to announce that she intends to run for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada just before the swearing-in of the president-elect of the United States. United, Donald Trump, January 20.
Karina Gould, who rubbed shoulders with Ms. Freeland at the cabinet table, also plans to get started. A Liberal source familiar with the intentions of Ms. Gould, government House leader, said the announcement is planned for later this week. The Canadian Press granted this person anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matters publicly.
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson signaled last Wednesday that he was also considering running.
Since then, the National Leadership Council of the PLC has announced initial rules for the race, such as the requirement for each aspiring candidate to collect at least 300 signatures from “registered liberals”, including at least 100 from three different provinces or territories.
Former Liberal strategists estimate that the entry fee into the race, which amounts to a whopping $350,000, may discourage people tempted to run from moving forward.
– With information from Kyle Duggan
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