Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has stepped down as the leader of the Liberal Party and will quit as the Prime Minister of Canada after the party chooses its next leader. He also announced parliament would be prorogued or suspended till March 24. That means an election is unlikely before May at the earliest. Since the next election will only be by the end of this year, Trudeau's announcement set the ground for the Liberal Party’s leadership election, the first in over a decade.
I will always fight for this country, and do what I believe is in the best interest of Canadians. pic.twitter.com/AE2nSsx5Nu
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 7, 2025
When will the election be held?
Liberal Party President Sachit Mehra will now start preparing for the contest. Mehra has said that a meeting of party's national board of directors will be held this week which will set a date for the elections to select a leader. A monitoring committee will be set up to oversee the elections.
Though it is not yet clear when the next elections will take place, several senior leaders, including Eddie Goldenberg, have called for a quick election to choose the new leader, at least by the end of January. But, the mandates in the Liberal Party's Constitution may push the timeline to March end or even April.
As per the party constitution, there should be a campaign period of at least 90 days. However, there are clauses to prepone the date under special political circumstances. There are also plans within the party to ensure that the leadership vote happens within the next 45 days to give the new Prime Minister adequate time to pass an appropriations bill before the federal government runs out of money on March 31. This will also buy the new PM sometime before the Parliament returns on March 24, when the government will likely face a non-confidence vote.
Voting and counting
The Liberal Party allows anyone who registered as a Liberal at least 41 days before the election date to vote. Anyone aged 14 and older with a Canadian mailing address can register to register as a Liberal Party member.
The voting is held in multiple rounds with weights in place to give each electoral district an equal proportion of the vote. After every round, the candidate with the lowest total is dropped until one candidate hits a threshold of at least 50 per cent support.
Who all are in the race?
No sitting MP has formally declared their intention to run though political analysts say the race is likely to favour one of the cabinet ministers who are thinking of running.
Some names doing the rounds include Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, widely called Trudeau’s potential successor, former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, whose recent resignation became the last straw for leadership change, ministers François-Philippe Champagne and Anita Anand. Other high-profile potential candidates include former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, and former B.C. Premier Christy Clark.
