Former Canada finance minister Freeland enters Liberal leadership race to replace Trudeau

Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s former deputy prime minister, whose unexpected resignation in December played a role in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to resign, announced on Friday that she is seeking to replace him.

She announced the decision on X, simply saying, “I’m running to fight for Canada.”

Official launch Sunday. pic.twitter.com/4Uq3MHQsib

— Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) January 17, 2025

The 56-year-old, who had been a close ally of Trudeau and often called his “minister of everything,” had served as deputy prime minister since 2019. She had long been considered a potential successor.

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Freeland’s unexpected departure prompted an uproar from Liberal legislators already unhappy about the party’s miserable showing in the polls after nine years in power and widespread voter unhappiness about high prices and a housing crisis.

The mutiny forced Trudeau to announce that he would step down once the party had chosen a replacement. He will stay in office until March 9, when the new leader is due to be unveiled.

Trudeau’s replacement is unlikely to be in office long, given polls show that the Liberals are set to be crushed by the official opposition Conservatives. The next election must be held by Oct 20 and could happen as early as May.

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The challenge for Freeland, 56, will be to portray herself as different from Trudeau, given how closely they worked together after the Liberals took power in November 2015 and how often she backed him in public.

Her likely main opponent is former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, who has never been part of the government and portrays himself as an outsider. He announced on Thursday he would be running.

Freeland had been finance minister since August 2020 and helped craft the government’s multibillion-dollar social spending program to help fight the pandemic.

She had previously been foreign minister and led the Canadian team that successfully renegotiated a trilateral trade deal with the United States and Mexico after then-President Donald Trump threatened to tear up the agreement.

She joined the government in November 2015, first serving as trade minister.

With inputs from agencies