Who will succeed Justin Trudeau as Liberal Party leader and PM? Chrystia Freeland, Mark Carney and other contenders

With Justin Trudeau stepping down as Canadian Prime Minister, all eyes are on the next leader who will head the Liberal Party and replace him as the PM ahead of the general elections.

The Parliament will be suspended until March 24 as the Liberal Party picks its new leader. Here is a look at the top contenders to the post.

Chrystia Freeland

Chrystia Freeland, who was the former deputy prime minister, is among the contenders to replace Trudeau. She has also handled the finance portfolio.

The former journalist was a senior editor at The Globe and Mail in Toronto. The Toronto MP slammed Trudeau in her resignation letter, eventually forcing him to step down.

Dominic LeBlanc

Dominic LeBlanc, who replaced Crystia Freeland as finance minister, is a close ally of Trudeau. Trudeau even discussed the possibility of LeBlanc taking over as interim PM before resigning. LeBlanc's father Romeo LeBlanc was the press secretary of Trudeau's father Pierre Elliot Trudeau when he was PM.

Melanie Joly

Melanie Joly, Canada's foreign minister, hit the headlines when the country's ties with India hit an all-time low. She expelled six Indian diplomats from Canada.

Joly has visited Ukraine several times since the conflict with Russia began. She also oversaw the evacuation of Canadian citizens from Jordan when the Israel-Hamas war broke out in 2023.

Anita Anand

Anita Anand, who was the former Canadian defence minister from October 2021 to July 2023, is currently the minister of transport and internal trade. Anand being shuffled out of the ministry was speculated as Trudeau's punishment for her ambitions to climb up the political ladder.

She has also held academic posts at Yale, Queen's and Western University. Oxford-educated Anand was also a law professor at the University of Toronto.

Mark Carney

Former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, 59, could take over the reins considering his acceptance among liberals. Carney was pursued by Trudeau to replace Freeland as finance minister earlier. Recently he was serving as a special adviser to Trudeau. He had earlier headed the Bank of England, besides serving as the UN special envoy on climate action.