Liberals choose new leader Sunday
The big news in Canada on Sunday is the federal Liberals choosing a new leader in the midst of the political whirlwind caused by our onetime friends south of the border. Le Devoir looks at the high and low points of Justin Trudeau’s time as prime minister. CultMTL reports on a survey about Trudeau’s accomplishments.
Mark Carney is generally considered to be the front‑runner, but he’s not an MP, so if he becomes party leader, there will be pressure for an early election. (But see comments from H. John below.)
jeather 12:49 on 2025-03-09 Permalink
No one will give up a seat for him to run in? I thought that was the usual process.
Kate 13:06 on 2025-03-09 Permalink
Presumably some Liberal MP could resign and spark a byelection, but that isn’t likely to happen. The amazing thing is that a minority government has held on as long as it has. It’s bound to be a general election.
If it’s Carney, he has to win an election one way or the other to become an MP.
Should one of the women beat the odds and become leader, she can be prime minister right away, since both are already MPs. I don’t even think she has to check it out with the Governor General but I could be mistaken about that.
H. John 13:42 on 2025-03-09 Permalink
All four of the candidates can immediately become PM. All must do so by visiting HE The Governor General and requesting permission to form a government. They will then have the choice of calling an election or facing the House.
The issue for Carney, or any other winner for that matter, is that the longer they wait before calling an election, the greater the damage that the Conservatives can inflict.
The Conservatives have a massive war chest. There are no limits on what they can spend to “define” the new leader until an election is called and the Elections Canada limits on spending kick in.
Meezly 14:27 on 2025-03-09 Permalink
I’ve been seeing Carney attack ads on CTV the past couple of weeks about how he’s “sold out Canada”.
You can’t really tell who’s making them but it’s obvs the Conservatives. Don’t know how true the accusations are, but it shows they must be scared!
Likely the info isn’t factual and makes me wonder why these kinds of political smear campaigns are even legal?
Kate 14:33 on 2025-03-09 Permalink
Thank you, H. John. I didn’t realize that someone could become PM without holding a riding.
H. John 14:40 on 2025-03-09 Permalink
For an explanation why being an MP isn’t necessary see Wiki article on PM:
Qualifications and selection:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Canada#:~:text=While%20there%20is%20no%20legal,the%20position%20of%20prime%20minister.
Examples from a recent CBC article:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/can-someone-be-prime-minister-if-they-are-not-a-member-of-parliament-1.7430116
Kate 14:51 on 2025-03-09 Permalink
I don’t think anyone would be happy with a PM from the Senate these days, but it happened twice long ago.
steph 14:55 on 2025-03-09 Permalink
I can’t figure out why the NDP is holding onto their vote of no confidence. According to every pole, their decision leaves them with the biggest political loss.
Nicholas 15:14 on 2025-03-09 Permalink
John Abbott, for whom the college is named after, was a senator when he became PM and throughout his entire term, and never became an MP (though he was previously). Bowell too. Technically a PM doesn’t even need to be Canadian, so long as they can command a majority of the house. (They do have to be to be an MP, and there’s a strong expectation to run soon, and no party would ever select a foreigner. But they could. (Side fact: you don’t need to be an American or a lawyer to be appointed to the US Supreme Court.))
There are lots of Liberal MPs who have said they won’t run again, so one of them could be convinced to retire early, I’m sure. The problem is it takes a minimum of about 50 days from resignation to swearing in a new MP. That would mean Carney is out of the House until May. There’s a summer break starting in June, and the election would be before the come back in the fall. So you come back for only about 32 sitting days with the PM in the House, after having to further prorogue (while parts of the government run out of money at the end of the fiscal year on March 31) or you have over a month of opposition attacks with no PM in the House. Seems untenable. And you’d be fighting a by-election that would be a referendum on the PM, and then have to do a real one shortly after.
I also agree that whoever wins will want to go soon, while they’re high in the polls and before the Conservatives can define them in unlimited spending attack ads.