OTTAWA—Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said he won’t be a candidate in the Liberal leadership race as MPs gather in Ottawa to discuss the rules for the coming contest.
Liberal caucus was set to meet for six hours on Wednesday to discuss the rules for the race to replace Justin Trudeau. The prime minister announced his resignation on Monday as more and more of his own MPs said over the holidays they could not support him.
LeBlanc said he was humbled to receive the support of many colleagues, but he won’t run.
“While I am extremely grateful for the encouragement and the expressions of support I have received from caucus colleagues and Liberals across the country, I have decided not to be a candidate in the Liberal party of Canada’s upcoming leadership race,” he said.
LeBlanc was named finance minister after Chrystia Freeland from the post resigned in December. He said he needs to focus on his new position as U.S. president-elect Donald Trump continues to threaten massive tariffs against Canada when he comes into office later this month.
“The threat these tariffs pose to our nation’s economic well-being and to the livelihood of countless number of Canadian families cannot be understated and as such, it requires nothing less than my full attention,” LeBlanc said.
Other potential contenders are still on the fence. Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said he has not yet decided whether to put his name forward.
“I am continuing to have discussions with my colleagues. At the end of the day, I want to ensure that this is a race that is robust, a race that discusses important issues, and I have not yet made a decision,” he said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said she is weighing a possible run against her current responsibilities in cabinet with an increasingly hostile U.S. administration about to take office.
“I very much know that I am the minister of foreign affairs at a time when it is extremely difficult with the incoming American administration, so that’s why I will continue my reflection,” Joly said.
Other potential contenders include Freeland, former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, former B.C. premier Christy Clark, House leader Karina Gould, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon, Treasury Board President Anita Anand, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and former MP Frank Baylis, who already announced his intention to run.
The caucus meeting comes as the Liberal party’s board of directors has been meeting to discuss rules for the leadership race.
Those will include how quickly the contest takes place, deposit requirements for candidates, who will be able to vote and how long candidates will have to recruit new party members.
All of the MPs speaking before caucus said the new leader has to be in place before Parliament returns on March 24.
“The board will make the decision and they’re elected to make the decisions,” said Toronto MP Rob Oliphant. “But I think we want to talk to them about both timelines and making sure that we have an expedited process, because we need a leader in place very early in March.”
Oliphant currently serves as parliamentary secretary to Joly, but was also parliamentary secretary to Freeland, Champagne and former MP Marc Garneau. He said he has a preference for one of them, but was keeping that a secret.
“I’m just like my mother,” he said. “My mother had four children, and she loved them all equally.”
Among the questions the party will have to answer is who will be able to vote in the leadership race.
The Liberals currently allow anyone who ordinarily resides in Canada to vote, which includes people who are neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents. Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, who is currently leading an inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian politics, has raised concerns that the barriers to participate in party contests were not particularly stringent and that control measures were not particularly robust.
Toronto MP Marco Mendicino said the party has to take those issues seriously.
“I am extremely concerned that we remain vigilant about protecting the integrity of our internal political processes. I am turning my mind to it. I know that the party is as well,” he said.
Winnipeg MP Ben Carr said he wants to hear more debate about the rules, and that the party has to come up with a strong process to pick the next leader.
“We have to have an important conversation today about that. We need to weigh the pros and cons, and most importantly, we have to ensure that we have a fair, equitable and free-of-interference process,” Carr said.
