As the Liberal Party of Canada gets ready to replace outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the five remaining candidates will be taking part in two live debates just before voting day.
On February 24th, there will be a French debate and the English debate will take place on February 25th.
Following the debates, Liberal Party of Canada members will be able to vote on March 9th at polling stations across the country to decide the party’s next leader, and ultimately, the next Prime Minister of Canada.
The five candidates whose names will be on the ballot are Frank Baylis, Mark Carney, Dr. Ruby Dhalla, Chrystia Freeland and Karina Gould.
Frank Baylis was a Liberal MP from 2015 to 2019, when he decided not to run for re-election.
He has worked as a film producer as well as a businessman, and was the source of some controversy during the COVID-19 pandemic in the House of Commons because his company was contracted to supply medical equipment needed during the emergency by the government.
The Conservative opposition was concerned that this matter was a conflict of interest due to Baylis being a former member of parliament, but it was ultimately ruled not a conflict.
Mark Carney is the frontrunner in this race so far, according to recent polls, having served as former governor of the Bank of Canada between 2008 and 2013.
He has never worked as a politician, but he has served the government as a trusted advisor for a long time and helped Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Another frontrunner is Chrystia Freeland, who has served as Trudeau’s former deputy prime minister from 2019 to 2024.
She also served as the former minister of finance from 2020 to 2024. Her resignation from these posts preceded Trudeau’s resignation announcement.
Prior to that she held positions as the foreign affairs and intergovernmental affairs minister.
Freeland has been a Member of Parliament since 2015 and before that, worked as a journalist.
Dr. Ruby Dhalla has worked in Canada as a chiropractor, actress, businesswoman, philanthropist, model and politician.
She was a former MP from 2004 to 2011, having served in both minority and opposition governments.
Dr. Dhalla is the only candidate who does not speak French and she has reportedly been denied a translator by the Liberals for the French debate.
In the 2015 federal election, she announced she would not be running for government and has been working in other fields leading up to this leadership race.
Karina Gould has been an MP since 2015 and she too has served in Trudeau’s cabinet in a number of positions; including the minister of democratic institutions and the minister of international development.
