Liberal leadership: Mark Carney will be Canada’s next prime minister with commanding Liberal leadership win

Every decade or so, the federal Liberal party has had to reinvent itself or risk extinction. That job now falls to Mark Carney, the former bank governor who won a massive victory Sunday in the race to succeed Justin Trudeau.

It was as close to a unanimous vote of confidence as Carney could have hoped for — 85.9 per cent of the more than 150,000 votes cast, which is a bigger win that Trudeau received in 2013 when he was put in charge of reinventing the Liberals.

Carney said over and over again in his acceptance speech that he arrives as leader at a crossroads — not just for the Liberal party, but for the country.

“I know these are dark days,” Carney said, in an address peppered with calls for change in direction for Liberals and yes, the country too, as it stares down the threats that keep coming from U.S. President Donald Trump.

“It won’t be business as usual. We will have to do things we haven’t imagined before, at speeds we didn’t think possible,” Carney warned.

It could well be that this crucial moment for the country works in favour of Carney and the Liberal party. That will be their hope, when the Canada-U.S. tension overshadowed this leadership race, as well as Sunday’s big event.

Read the full piece from the Star’s Susan Delacourt.

8:10 p.m. Singh, Poilievre

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre both responded to the Liberals electing Mark Carney as their new leader.

“I want to congratulate Mark Carney on becoming leader of the Liberal party,” Singh wrote in a post on X. “We will disagree on many ideas, priorities and policies — but we should always stand united in protecting our country from the threat posed by Donald Trump.”

Poilievre struck a more aggressive tone.

“Liberals are trying to trick Canadians into electing them for a fourth term by replacing Trudeau with his economic advisor, Mark Carney,” Poilievre also shared on X. “We need a new Conservative government that will put Canada First—for a change.”

7:11 p.m. Carney concludes

Carney, in a speech that has lots of applause lines, says he’ll fight to protect dental care, pharmacare and child care but pivots back to the economy. “These will be “dark days” and “we will have to look out for each other,” he says, portraying the threat of Donald Trump as a crisis threatening our economy and sovereignty. And then, reiterating the promise to be “Canada Strong,” he flags that will clearly be the campaign theme.

“When we come together we build things that last, because we are Canada strong,” is the ending line of Carney’s speech.

And he’s offstage, and the crowd is filing out as the heavy rock bass pounds out his exit tune.

7:07 p.m.

“We can give ourselves far, far more than Donald Trump can ever take away,” said Carney as he outlined a plan for economic reforms, that breaks down trade barriers etc.

7:03 p.m.

Carney is coming out swinging against Poilievre, saying as he did in the debate, that Poilievre “worships” Donald Trump and “will kneel before him not stand up to him.”

That’s the sharpest political attack we’ve heard Carney make on Poilievre’s Conservatives, as he is setting the stage for a clear election campaign theme to come: that the Conservatives are too close to Trump to defend Canada’s interests.

In French, Carney says we cannot change Trump, but we can control our economic destiny and be “maîtres chez nous” – the old nationalist rallying cry of the Revolution tranquille in Quebec. —Tonda MacCharles

6:58 p.m.

We are moving into the Poilevre attack section of the speech. Not surprisingly, the Conservative leader’s name gets lot of boos in the crowd.

Carney has focused a lot on climate change, throughout his career, but especially since leaving his central bank roles.

He says “Pierre Poilievre would let our planet burn.”

The speech is really laying out what Carney’s attacks on Poilievre will be; his lack of “real world” experience, his attacks on CBC and Rad-Can and lack of plan on climate change.

“Pierre Poilievre’s plan will leave us ready to be divided and conquered.”

6:55 p.m. ‘Canada will win’

Carney has promised dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs. And he says that they will be targeted to exert “maximum” pressure on the Americans.

“America is not Canada and Canada never ever will be part of America in any way shape or form,” he said.

In trade as in hockey, Canada will be prepared to drop the gloves and “Canada will win,” said Carney.

Carney hosted a lot of viewing parties during the most recent round of Canada-U.S. hockey games.

Carney says in French that with the Trump challenge, Canada is facing the biggest crisis of our lives. “We have to put people before money,” he said. Although he hasn’t outlined exactly how he intends to do that. The Trudeau government has unveiled a $6 billion package on Friday to help businesses, farmers and employers who will be hit, and promises EI changes to support workers.

6:52 p.m. ‘We are Canada Strong’

Now Carney is moving to the section of the speech where he says he will confront Donald Trump: “We cannot let him succeed.”

Carney says he will impose counter-tariffs and keep them on “until the Americans show us respect.”

More from Carney on Trump.

“He is attacking Canadian workers, families and businesses and we can not let him succeed,” he said. “When we are united we are Canada Strong.”

6:49 p.m.

After the call to party unity, comes the “let me introduce myself to those who are watching at home” section of Carney’s speech…because he is a big unknown for many Canadians.

Here’s a link to Alex Ballingall’s profile of Carney:

Carney says he will immediately eliminate the carbon tax and the capital gains tax inclusion changes. These are moves he can make, we were told earlier, that he can make without Parliament sitting.

Carney’s painting himself as “a pragmatist” above all else who will move to strengthen the economy immediately.

6:48 p.m.

There are still a lot of questions about what comes next for Carney, when will he take the reigns of power, where will he run as an MP, will the House of Commons return.

I am interested to see if he answers any of those questions tonight. — Ryan Tumilty

6:46 p.m.

Carney quotes from a note he received from “Bob” who goes to his church, and who reminded the Liberal candidates that never mind the tariffs, in the face of Trump’s greater threats, they all needed to continue in positions of leadership to promote a united Canada. “Who’s ready?” Carney asks.

6:44 p.m.

“I will work day and night with one purpose, which is to build a stronger Canada for everyone.”

Carney is reading from a teleprompter, as one would expect in a moment like this, and says “I will need help. I will need a lot of help” and thanks his opponents in the race, saying he needs their ideas and energy in the campaign to come.

Carney now turns to thanking his leadership challengers, definitely trying to ensure the leadership race ends with the party completely unified.

6:40 p.m.

Anyone watching this speech on CBC will be seeing the camera pan to Justin Trudeau, smiling, but some hint of tears in his eyes, as Carney thanks the outgoing prime minister for all he’s done. — Susan Delacourt

6:39 p.m.

Carney thanks Chretien, says the former prime minister is why he is a Liberal.

“You inspired my family to become Liberals, including my father to run as a Liberal candidate in the 1980’s.”

He now turns to Trudeau.

“You have combined strength and compassion everyday as a fighter for Canada.”

6:38 p.m. Carney’s remarks

Cleo introduces Carney as the “24th prime minister of Canada” however, he’s not yet that. He has to be sworn in.

Carney jokes with Trudeau, “Prime Minister I think we just skipped a generation” – acknowledging the poise and grace of both daughters.

Carney is emotional when he says that without his wife and kids’ support “I wouldn’t be standing here…and without your love I wouldn’t have the strength for what lies ahead.”

6:37 p.m. 

For historical context, Carney’s win was bigger than that of Justin Trudeau 12 years ago. Trudeau won with 80 per cent. Carney had nearly 86 per cent.

6:35 p.m.

Carney is also being introduced by his daughter Cleo.

“He is unflinchingly dedicated to what matters, focused and principled, funny and kind,” she says of her father.

“My dad invests in what matters, he expects nothing to come without hard work and he is always ready to work hard,” she says.

Carney is introduced to the room with a song from Cœur de Pirate.

This is a resounding victory for the former central banker.

This will be a big test for Carney, to set out his plan for the party in the days, weeks and months ahead.

6:34 p.m.

Freeland only won eight per cent of the vote, a stunning defeat, really.

That’s a repudiation of Freeland, who stood by Trudeau’s side for all these years, but who in the end triggered the downfall, and his departure from office. But Carney was also involved in that, declining Trudeau’s offer to enter government. And so now, here we are. —Tonda MacCharles

6:33 p.m.

After 151,899 votes were cast, Baylis is in fourth place, third is Karina Gould, and with Freeland in second, Carney is the new leader.

6:32 p.m. Carney wins leadership

6:31 p.m.

This revelation of results is a little ‘and now the Oscar’ moment, as the LPC president asks for the envelope. —Tonda MacCharles

6:30 p.m.

Before we get to the results, a reminder this is a ranked ballot, with candidates needing more than 50 per cent of votes cast to win.

Votes are also distributed by riding, with each riding getting 100 points.

6:24 p.m.

Sachit Mera party president has taken the stage.

He is supposed to announce the new leader, so things appear to be roughly on time.

6:22 p.m.

I should clarify: “Stop this nonsense” is the line from this speech. And my apologies for saying earlier that Chretien was coming close to winding up. Clearly he has a lot of speechifying in him this evening. —Susan Delacourt

6:21 p.m.

“He’s united us as never before.” Classic Chrétien.

He never met a Liberal crowd he didn’t want to rally. —Tonda MacCharles

6:20 p.m.

There it is, the best line from this speech. He framed it as coming from one old guy to another.

Says he wants to nominate Trump for the Order of Canada for the way he’s united this country.

“Just kidding,” he adds. —Susan Delacourt

6:19 p.m.

Chrétien, of course, talks about how he resisted the U.S. entreaties to join the Iraq war, to big cheers.

Chrétien, talking to Trump, says from one old guy to another, “Stop this nonsense.”

He slammed Trump’s treatment of Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky.

6:18 p.m.

Chrétien is talking about a couple of incidents during his time in office where he stood up to Americans.

Fishing disputes and his decision not to participate in the war in Iraq, which I think pale in comparison to the threats we are seeing from the Trump administration. —Ryan Tumilty

6:16 p.m.

Chrétien reminds how he and Brian Tobin led a turbot war against European overfishing off Newfoundland and Labrador, joking he told wife Aline to cancel a vacation because “I am declaring war to Spain.”

That “war” went to the United Nations and led to the change in the Lae of the Sea convention.

“The problem was solved because we stood for ourselves” says Chrétien.

6:15 p.m.

I’m pretty certain this suggestion by Jean Chrétien to use the cash flow from taxing oil, gas, steel aluminum, electricity, etc. to build a natural gas pipeline from Alberta to Quebec will not find unanimous approval within the party, never mind the caucus.

This freelancing by Chrétien speaks to a few tension points within the government and the country these last few weeks.

That being said, the party’s platform committee has wrapped up its work and handed over the platform to the party today for the transition team of the next leader. That person will be able to pick and choose what they want from it, or ignore it altogether. —Althia Raj

6:13 p.m.

Chrétien mentions the war of 1812, says he is too old to burn down the White House, then adds he is joking.

Them’s fighting words from a former prime minister who had to navigate a unity crisis when he was in power, in light of Danielle Smith’s warnings that any move to tariff energy exports would trigger a national unity crisis with Albertans leading the way.

6:05 p.m.

Chrétien décries the more and more open hostility on Trump’s part toward Canada. He says he doesn’t believe it is felt by most Americans and other global leaders. Everyone is trying to find the sense or meaning where there is none, Chrétien says.

It’s kind of fun to imagine how Chretien would handle Trump.

For Canadians, Chrétien says, it’s not about the tariffs or the money but it is really about our sovereignty and independence. And he hails the responses by Canadian political leaders to unjustified tariffs.

The governments he says should consider slapping export taxes on oil, gas, steel and aluminum.

He also says they should look to build a pipeline from Alberta to Quebec, keep steelworkers in Quebec working for a long time.

6:00 p.m. Chrétien’s remarks

Chrétien’s speech is running through what he casts as the party’s greatest hits, saying it’s the best party to deliver improvements to Canadians’ lives. He also gives a nod to the other formers – former prime ministers who signed that Flag Day letter he instigated, pushing back against Trump.

“Canada is not broken,” Chrétien says, in a direct shot at the Conservatives.

Chrétien, ever the campaigner, now pushes back against Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, saying “let me tell you, Canada is not broken.”

Chrétien reminds the crowd that Liberals took Canada out of debt under his watch and Stephen Harper’s Conservatives put the country back in the red. This is something you don’t hear in Poilievre’s speeches.

When I covered Chrétien’s 1993 campaign, we learned that when he starts talking about the land of Laurier and Trudeau, he’s nearing the end of his remarks. So I think he’s winding up here.

Chrétien pays tribute to Trudeau for winning three elections, for putting together Canada’s pandemic response, and also praises the quality of the candidates on the ballot tonight.

Chrétien talks about the quality of the four leadership contenders, says it makes him very proud to be a Liberal.

“Let’s talk about the elephant in the room tonight,” Chrétien says.

5:57 p.m.

Interesting contrast between Jean Chrétien and Justin Trudeau — Chrétien, true to form, talks personally (his first book was called “Straight from the Heart.“.) That’s what this crowd wanted. Trudeau’s speech, as noted, was incredibly impersonal and party/country focused. — Susan Delacourt

5:54 p.m. Trudeau addresses party

Trudeau says they’ve achieved a lot in the last 10 years, and urges them to achieve more in the next 10 years and the 60 after that. “You’ll always find me alongside you,” Trudeau tells Liberals, but he says his children’s future “and your future is now in your hands.”

The handover onstage, however, is not to the future leader but to a past leader, Jean Chrétien.

He says it’s his 7th time at a leadership convention podium, at 91.

Chrétien always fires up crowds at Liberal conventions.

Chrétien talks about his first convention when “not many of you were born.

His first Liberal convention, when he was president of the young Liberals of Laval, was in 1958 apparently.

5:52 p.m.

“This is a nation defining moment,” says Trudeau. He says democracy, freedom and Canada are “not a given.” And he hearkens back to his old slogan that it will take “Hope and hard work,” prompting cheers.

Trudeau is using a lot of the slogans that have been part of his campaigns, including “Hope and Hard work.”

5:51 p.m.

Bit of trivia here: It was at one of the final Liberal leadership events in 2013 that Adam Scotti introduced himself to me, carrying greetings from his lovely father, Bill McCarthy, who was the official photographer for Brian Mulroney. — Susan Delacourt

5:50 p.m.

Trudeau is wearing a black suit and tie, white shirt. It’s a very formal and somber look when he usually sports a dark blue or grey, and often in rooms or rallies like this likes the sleeves rolled up look. But this is his goodbye.

Trudeau praises two staffers who’ve been with him all along: his official photographer Adam Scotti and chief of staff Katie Telford.

But Trudeau says there’s no rest for the weary, because “Your country needs you maybe more than ever,” hinting at the federal election to come, likely quickly.

5:46 p.m.

Trudeau now turns to the challenge of confronting Trump’s threats, drilling down on the merger talk. He hearkens back to a familiar theme of his, that Canadians don’t define themselves by “who we’re not, but by proudly embracing who we are.” He touches on Indigenous reconciliation, a woman’s right to choose, support for LGBTQ people.

And you know he had to go there, that while Canada is diplomatic, when needed it can fight “elbows up.” —Tonda MacCharles

5:45 p.m.

Trudeau says Liberals don’t always take a “victory lap” because there’s always work that needs to be done. “But not tonight.”

Interesting to note that Trudeau has chosen to speak about the party, not himself. He may get there, and that will likely get emotional, but for now, he’s talking about Liberals, to Liberals.

5:41 p.m.

Trudeau bounded onstage, no big long entry. But his voice sounds a bit hoarse. He was at the going-away party for his PMO staff last night at the Met until about 11:30 at night.

Trudeau says in French he looks forward to spending time with his family, thinking about other things other than work all the time, serving as prime minister, he says, has been “the honour of my life.” But now he looks forward to being “papa.”

“I am damn proud of what we’ve all done,” says Trudeau “But tonight is about our future and our party.”

5:40 p.m.

“I am looking forward to making some new memories of a different kind,” she says.

Ella-Grace says “Dad, I’m so proud of you” and that she “would never trade the last few years for anything, that I’m so proud to have seen you fight for our country, for what you believe in, for what we in this room believe in.”

“My brothers and I have shared our dad with you for the last 12 years, now we are taking him back,” she says.

Here comes Justin Trudeau himself.

5:38 p.m.

Here’s Ella Grace Trudeau. A few years ago, I asked Justin Trudeau whether she would be the next generation of Trudeau to seek the Liberal leadership. Here’s how I reported his answer: “Oh God. I would be terrified if she knew,” he says. He recalls that his father didn’t plan on any of his sons going into politics. Besides, he adds, it’s not a job that can simply be passed down through generations. The job changes with the times. “I don’t even pretend to know what the qualifications or the abilities that will be most important to be prime minister 30 or 40 years from now.” — Susan Delacourt

5:36 p.m.

Trudeau once told me that he would leave office never looking back, and not chirping from the sidelines. But he said if anyone else in his family ever ran for politics, it might be Ella-Grace. She has campaigned on his side and loves politics, he told me.

Right now, she admits that politics is a hard job, and though he was prime minister, to her he was “just Dad.”

She said she is looking forward to seeing “more of him at home, and less of him online.”

Ella-Grace says she is looking forward to seeing more of her dad at home, and less of him online. — Tonda MacCharles

5:35 p.m.

Big cheers for the Justin Trudeau highlight video that just played,

Not surprising given the room.

5:31 p.m.

Big cheers to the Canadian anthem line “glorious and free”.

The video images remind how young Trudeau was back then, 42 when he vaulted the party from third place to first. He turned 43 two months later. Now 53, he has lots of career runway ahead but nobody knows what he will do.

5:27 p.m.

The candidates have all now been introduced, lots of calls for unity in the speeches.

We are now expecting speeches from Jean Chrétien and Justin Trudeau before the results are officially announced.

There will be a video tribute to Trudeau as well, and we expect he will be introduced by his daughter Ella-Grace, 16.

5:25 p.m. Carney’s remarks

Now Mark Carney enters, to rousing cheers and applause. This brief speech is one thing. The real test is whatever speech a party victor delivers: setting the tone for his leadership and in this case, a federal election campaign expected tout de suite.

Carney starts in French, “Qui est prêt?” he asks…“Who’s ready?” to help the Liberal party win the election. And his voice cracked.

“We have made this the greatest country in the world and now our neighbour wants to take us,” said Carney. “No way.”

Grace notes from Carney, giving shoutouts to all his leadership rivals and saying they’re all ready to fight the next election.

The reference to Trump’s desire to take us over got a lot of boos in the room.

5:20 p.m. Gould’s remarks

Gould thanks everyone in the room, not just her supporters.

“The Liberal party of Canada is strong because of each and everyone one of you.”

Gould, whose French is pretty good, alternates between English and French, and also pitches the Liberal Party as the one that “stands up” for Canadians and “stands strong” for Canada.

Gould’s entry into the campaign, after a number of other heavyweights demurred, deciding not to run, showed a toughness and resolve to place her marker down for a future government and possible future leadership bid (assuming this becomes a Mark Carney win tonight, of course).

There was a real pitch from Gould for unity in her remarks.

“Whatever the result, we leave here proud LIberals, proud Canadians.”

5:15 p.m.

Karina Gould is walking in with her three brothers in tow, she’s the oldest of four.

She has an enthusiastic group, mainly near the front, welcoming her entrance.

5:12 p.m. Freeland’s remarks

Freeland thanks her volunteers and staff, and offers brief thanks to outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Freeland echoes the main theme of her campaign, the ability of Canada to push back against Donald Trump, and how Canadians will resist his 51st state threat, but first defeat Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

“Just in December people were writing off our Liberal party, but tonight we all know we can, we must and we will defeat Pierre Poilievre,” she said.

“Together we will win,” says Freeland. “Vive le Canada.”

5:10 p.m.

To put this Liberal leadership turnout in perspective, the total number of ballots cast in this contest is roughly half the nearly 300,000 that Pierre Poilievre alone won in the Conservative leadership race in 2022. That tells you the challenge ahead for any new Liberal leader to rally the troops in the days and weeks ahead. — Susan Delacourt

5:09 p.m.

These will be brief remarks by all the leadership candidates.

Chrystia Freeland is now entering to Nelly Furtado’s Maneater.

This is the same song she used when she launched in campaign back in January.

Freeland is in a Liberal red pantsuit and white shirt, entering with her New York Times journalist husband, Graham Bowles.

5:07 p.m. Baylis’ remarks

Baylis’s speech outlines the challenge facing Canada at this moment, casting Canadians as up to the moment because they are “fighters, builders, peacekeepers.”

“We will not be intimidated by a tweet, and we will not be broken by a tariff,” he says.

5:05 p.m. Show starts

The show is starting as leadership contenders walk in with supporters.

Frank Baylis is first in line.

The entry of the candidates into this room was decided by random draw the party has said.

It’s a small room but there’s an overflow room next door.

4:55 p.m. Voting numbers

The Liberals just released that 151,899 people voted in this race.

There was a complicated voter verification process that many voters struggled with. When the cut-off for new memberships happened in late January, the party said they had almost 400,000 members, so a lot of people didn’t cast ballots.

4:35 p.m. Voting system

Before the program starts, its worth reviewing how the voting system works.

Liberals voted online for this leadership race and did so with a ranked ballot, putting their first, through fourth choices on the ballot.

After the first ballot, anyone who voted for the fourth place candidate will have their vote re-allocated to their second choice, that will continue until a leadership candidate has at least 50 per cent plus one support.

The party is also allocating support by riding, every riding in the country is worth 100 points, ridings get those points regardless of whether they have 50 Liberals or 5000. A lot of rural ridings for example will be very important tonight.

Here is one of our previous stories about the voting system that could be useful today.

4:25 p.m. Polls closed

Polls have closed, so in theory it’s all over but the counting.

There is a fair bit of optimism here among the Carney people in particular and Liberals generally.

We are about 40 minutes before the start of the official program and likely about two hours until we hear who won this race. —Ryan Tumilty

3:30 p.m.

It is quite likely that the Liberal vote results that we will hear from the stage will only announce the winner, while second, third and fourth place results, along with data on breakouts found on the Liberal Party website.

3:11 p.m.

There are nearly 3,000 people expected to attend the leadership event today.  And 300 media. 

2:06 p.m. Privy clerk potential 

1:50 p.m. There is heavy emphasis on security

…But not a lot of workspace at the convention center where the Liberal leadership vote results will be announced tonight. It’s like nobody knew we were all coming!

More to come from Tonda MacCharles. 

Liberal party members need more time to vote in leadership race, Karina Gould says

Liberal leadership hopeful Karina Gould is worried the party’s voter verification system isn’t keeping up with demand and wants to give party members another 24 hours to cast ballots.

The party is using a two-step process for supporters wanting to cast a ballot in the leadership race to replace Justin Trudeau. Supporters first have to sign up for a ballot and verify their identity by either using a Canada Post app or by visiting a Canada Post outlet with their identification. Once they are verified, they will receive their ballot and they can vote.

Gould’s campaign commended the party’s efforts to avoid any problems, but said there should be more time given the number of people trying to vote.

Read the full story from the Star’s Ryan Tumilty

Mark Carney vows to put his financial assets into a blind trust if he becomes prime minister. Here’s what we know about what he made as a corporate leader

Liberal leadership hopeful Mark Carney is working with Canada’s conflict of interest and ethics commissioner and is pledging to put his considerable assets into a blind trust immediately, if he should become prime minister.

Carney’s campaign made the commitment in a statement to the Star on Wednesday.

“If Mark Carney has the privilege of becoming prime minister, he would not merely comply with all applicable ethics rules and guidelines, but surpass them,” said the statement. “The office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner has already been contacted ahead of time to help ensure all appropriate steps can be initiated right away, and assets would be immediately placed in a blind trust.”

Read the full story from the Star’s Ryan Tumilty

The future Chrystia Freeland has long feared is here. Now she thinks she’s the best person to confront it

Even as she attempts to become Liberal leader and prime minister, Chrystia Freeland is still surprised she chose to run for office at all.

“Sometimes when I look back on that decision, I’m astonished that I made that decision,” she said in a recent interview with the Star.

“At a human level, it was really hard. The kids really didn’t want to do it. And actually, they still reproach me because we bribed them with an offer to get a pet, which we never actually did.”

Read the full story from the Star’s Ryan Tumilty

She says she ‘outsmarted’ Pierre Poilievre. Now Karina Gould believes she has what it takes to be Canada’s next prime minister

Talk of who would be Justin Trudeau’s successor was happening in Ottawa well before he walked out of Rideau Cottage in early January and told the nation he was bowing out.

There were short lists and long lists, cabinet ministers who were quietly organizing and many who were expected to be serious leadership contenders, but Karina Gould’s was not a name that often came up in those conversations.

But however official Ottawa may have felt, when Gould decided she wanted to be the next Liberal leader, her family was not surprised.

Read the full story from the Star’s Ryan Tumilty

Forget the ‘popularity contest’ of the Liberal leadership race — this former Liberal MP says he’s the one who can fix his broken party

He’s campaigning as an “outsider” far from the unpopular Justin Trudeau brand. He believes he’s the candidate with the economic savviness necessary for Canada to prosper.

And he’s in the race because he wants to overhaul the way Canadian politics work. No, it’s not Mark Carney.

His name is Frank Baylis.

Read the full story from the Star’s Mark Ramzy

Mark Carney reveals his plan to balance the government’s budget in three years

Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney said the Liberal government he now seeks to lead hasn’t shown enough fiscal discipline over the last decade and he would balance the budget in three years.

“It’s clear that the federal government is spending too much. Spending growth has been nine per cent on average over the course of the last decade, and the federal workforce has grown by over 40 per cent since 2015, and the government has missed many of its spending targets,” Carney said at an event in Scarborough on Wednesday.

But Carney’s balanced budget pledge comes with one big condition: he would change the way Ottawa looks at spending by breaking the budget in two. One part would be operating spending which includes items such as salaries, transfers to provinces and debt financing. The other piece would be capital spending, which would be for purchases. Carney is only pledging to balance the operational budget. While he didn’t offer specifics, he said balancing that would allow his government to offer a middle-class tax cut.

Read the full story from the Star’s Ryan Tumilty

Opinion: Chrystia Freeland anticipated the troubled times we’re living in years ago

Say this for Chrystia Freeland, she was early in anticipating the middle-class discontent that is widespread in the world’s advanced economies.

She saw the threat it poses to the social stability of Western liberal democracies, including Canada and the U.S.

“Authoritarianism is on the march, and it is time for liberal democracy to fight back,” Freeland told a Washington, D.C., audience in 2018 on being named “Foreign Policy” magazine’s diplomat of the year.

Read the column by David Olive

Who is Frank Baylis? Liberal leadership candidate Baylis says PM, premiers made ‘mistakes’ with Trump

The Montreal businessman said Thursday the leaders have made “mistake after mistake,” starting with Trudeau’s decision to rush to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Florida resort in November soon after he threatened Canada with tariffs.

Baylis said he would deal with Trump better than his opponents have, due to his strong business background and experience in negotiating contracts with Americans.

Read the full story from the Canadian Press