Who Might Replace Justin Trudeau As Liberal Party Leader? Here Are Possible Contenders

Justin Trudeau, facing internal dissent, announced his resignation as Liberal Party leader on January 6. The party now faces a task to elect his successor.

File photo of Justin Trudeau

Source : PTI

Amid growing dissent within the party, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau officially announced on January 6 that he will resign as the leader of Liberal Party. Currently, he is serving as the caretaker prime minister.

With his resignation, the Liberals will face the task of choosing his successor. Trudeau has been in power since 2015. The party will choose his successor through a vote by its members.

Here are some possible contenders who may succeed Trudeau.

Crystia Freeland

As per The New York Times, Chrystia Freeland is one of the contenders for the post. Being the former deputy prime minister and finance minister, it was speculated that she would start her own bid to run the party.

She criticised Trudeau in her public resignation letter, which mounted the pressure on the latter and made his departure.

Before entering politics, she was journalist and had a successful career as a senior editor at The Globe and Mail in Toronto.

Dominic LeBlanc

Dominic LeBlanc became the finance minister after Freeland's resignation. He is  one of Trudeau's closest and most trusted friend.

LeBlanc, who was a former lawyer, has been a parliamentarian for more than 20 years. He was first elected in 2000. LeBlanc has shown previous ambitions to had the party. He contended in 2008 but lost to Michael Ignatieff. Later, he did not run again.

Mélanie Joly

Mélanie Joly has been country's diplomat since 2021. She has taken many trips to Ukraine, being the current foreign minister of Canada. She has also led Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.

Mark Carney

Mark Carney was the former governor of the Bank of Canada and also led the Bank of England. Earlier, Trudeau had admitted he wanted Mark in his team. Carney has been serving in recent months as a special adviser to Trudeau, as per BBC.

Pierre Poilievre

He has been the Leader of the Conservative Party since 2022, and a member of Parliament since 2004. If the Liberals lose, he will be frontrunner for the prime minister post.

Anita Anand

She was appointed minister of defence in 2021. Being a lawyer, she also has a background in financial market regulation and corporate governance.