Who will succeed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau?

Several figures are emerging as potential candidates to become the new leader of Canada's ruling party to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is about to step down.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on January 6 his intention to resign as prime minister and leader of the ruling Liberal Party before this year's general election. Trudeau cited distracting internal infighting as the reason and said Canada deserved a real choice in the next election.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he will resign when the ruling Liberal Party chooses a new leader

According to Reuters, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced on January 10 that she would not join the race to replace Mr. Trudeau because she wanted to focus on dealing with the threat of tariffs from the US. Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc also cited official responsibilities and decided to stay out of the race.

On January 11, Transport Minister Anita Anand confirmed that she would not run for the party leadership or for the upcoming parliamentary election. On January 12, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced that he would not run to replace Trudeau but would run for the upcoming parliamentary election.

The Liberal Party will choose a new leader on March 9. The deadline to register as a party member and vote in the leadership election is January 27. The fee to run for election is CAD 350,000 (VND 6.1 billion). The party leader will become prime minister, serving the remainder of Mr. Trudeau's term. The next general election in Canada is due by October 20, and the opposition Conservative Party is expected to win, regardless of who becomes the next leader of the Liberal Party.

Thus, according to Reuters, the race currently has a few outstanding candidates:

Former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland

Ms. Chrystia Freeland when she was finance minister in 2020.

Ms. Freeland (57 years old) was one of Mr. Trudeau's closest allies during the leader's 9 years in power and was once considered to have the "most formidable" profile in the government. In December 2024, Ms. Freeland suddenly resigned due to conflicts over government spending and wrote a letter criticizing Mr. Trudeau's leadership.

Ms. Freeland is a former journalist, working for major newspapers such as the Financial Times , The Globe and Mail and Reuters. Ms. Freeland joined the government in November 2015 as Minister of Trade.

Ms. Freeland has been Canada's Finance Minister since August 2020 and helped design the government's multi-billion dollar social spending program to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

She served as foreign minister and led the Canadian delegation that successfully negotiated a trade deal with the United States and Mexico in the face of threats from US leaders to scrap the deal.

Former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney

Mr. Mark Carney attended a conference in the UK in 2024.

Mark Carney (60 years old) is a veteran economist, the first person to lead two major central banks. Mr. Carney studied at Harvard University and Oxford University, worked for Goldman Sachs before joining the Canadian Ministry of Finance in 2004. He was Governor of the Bank of Canada from 2007-2013. He is considered to have played a major role in helping Canada avoid the worst impact of the global financial crisis that began in 2007.

He served as Governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020. He also warned of the economic damage if Britain left the European Union (EU), also known as Brexit, which was fiercely attacked by Brexit supporters. The UK officially left the EU in 2020 and Mr. Carney also left the Bank of England that year. He was later appointed as the UN special envoy for climate and finance. He is currently Vice Chairman of Brookfield Asset Management.

He is the only serious candidate not to join Justin Trudeau’s government. Mr. Carney has been considered a potential candidate for the Liberal leadership for many years because of his outstanding record in the financial sector. He recently said he would consider running to replace Mr. Trudeau.

Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne

Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne speaks in the Canadian Parliament in December 2024

Mr. Champagne, 55, was a lawyer and businessman before joining Mr. Trudeau’s government in 2015. He served as minister of trade, infrastructure and foreign affairs before taking up his current post in January 2021. In this role, Mr. Champagne led efforts to attract foreign investment in Canada’s electric vehicle and battery sectors.

Minister for Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson

Minister for Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson

Mr Wilkinson, 60, is a former entrepreneur who worked for green technology companies. From 2018-2019, he headed the Department of Fisheries, Oceans and Coastguard. From 2019-2021, he was Minister for Environment and Climate Change. In that role, he had to balance protecting the resource extraction industry with implementing the government’s plan to cut oil and gas emissions. He also campaigned to ease licensing procedures for mining companies to implement new projects.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ai-se-ke-nhiem-thu-tuong-canada-justin-trudeau-185250113114024005.htm