OTTAWA—Foreign affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has announced she will not be a candidate in the coming Liberal leadership race.
Joly, a long rumoured potential successor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said she can’t step away from her responsibilities as foreign minister.
“I was really torn about this decision because, to be frank, I think that our chances were really, really high,” she said. “But the reality is I’m foreign minister at a time that is crucial in our history.”
Joly said U.S. President elect Donald Trump’s threats of 25-per-cent tariffs on the Canadian economy are real and need to be taken seriously. She said that will be her focus during this time.
“My job is to make sure that we’re ready should president elect Trump decide to go along with his tariffs,” he said.
Trudeau’s resignation on Monday kicked off the Liberal leadership race with Parliament set to return on March 24 when an all but certain confidence vote is expected to bring down the government.
The party board unveiled rules on Thursday requiring candidates to come forward with a $350,000 entrance fee. They will also be under intense pressure to sign up new members with the party giving them until Jan. 27 for sign ups.
The leadership race will conclude on March 9.
Only two people have formally declared their leadership bids: Ottawa MP Chandra Arya and former Liberal MP Frank Baylis.
Several other potential contenders have said they would run depending on the rules. That includes 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 and Treasury Board President Anita Anand.
This is a developing story.
