OTTAWA—Backbench Liberal MP Chandra Arya announced he will run for the Liberal leadership with a campaign promising to make Canada a republic, end the consumer carbon tax and recognize the state of Palestine.
The Ottawa MP made the announcement on X Thursday morning. Party officials are also expected to meet on Thursday to decide the rules of the leadership race, which was triggered by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement he would be resigning.
Arya said there is need for a big shakeup in Canadian politics and he is offering that change.
“I am running to be the next Prime Minister of Canada to lead a small, more efficient government to rebuild our nation and secure prosperity for future generations,” he said.
Arya was first elected in 2015 in the suburban riding of Nepean. His campaign announcement came with a long list of policy proposals including increasing the retirement age, a citizenship-based tax system and policies that mandate the country’s pension plans invest in Canada.
“Canada deserves leadership that isn’t afraid to make the big decisions. Decisions that rebuild our economy, restore hope, create equal opportunities for all Canadians, and secure prosperity for our children and grandchildren. Bold political decisions are not optional — they are necessary,” he said.
Arya is a vocal advocate for Hindu Canadians and has clashed with other parliamentarians, including his own Liberal caucus colleagues, over his views on relations between Ottawa and New Delhi and the actions of Sikh separatists in Canada.
This fall, Arya sparred with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Liberal caucus colleague Sukh Dhaliwal after separatist Sikh protesters clashed with Hindu worshippers at a temple in the GTA during a visit from Indian consular officials. At the time, there were heightened tensions between Canada and India.
After Arya claimed Sikh extremists had “infiltrated” Canadian institutions, Singh accused him of parroting the lines of an Indian government accused of threatening and killing Canadians. Dhaliwal, who had drawn the ire of Arya for sponsoring a petition calling for another Air India bombing investigation, told the Star he agreed with Singh’s accusation and said he often gets complaints from constituents about Arya’s support for the Modi government but stopped short of saying he should be kicked out of the Liberal caucus. He said he had no personal view on the petition but was compelled to sponsor it because his constituents brought it to him.
A month later, Arya accused Dhaliwal of threatening him in the House of Commons, after he voted against a motion to condemn the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India as genocide.
So far Arya and former MP Frank Baylis are the only candidates to formally declare their intentions to run. Several other candidates have said they are waiting for the party to set the rules for the race before they make an announcement.
Those other candidates include former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, former finance minister Chrystia Freeland and former B.C. Premier Christy Clark.
Several Liberal cabinet ministers are also mulling runs including Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon, House Leader Karina Gould, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Treasury Board President Anita Anand.
