Six of the seven Liberal leadership candidates who submitted their nomination papers have now been approved by the party to run in the race to succeed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Former central banker Mark Carney, former finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland, Nova Scotia MP Jaime Battiste, former government House leader Karina Gould and former Brampton, Ont., Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla were notified Monday that they can run in the race.
Former Montreal Liberal MP Frank Baylis, who was the first to enter the race, also had his candidacy approved by the party Monday.
While the candidates have been confirmed by the Liberal Party, they still have to be confirmed by Elections Canada.
The news comes a day after Nepean MP Chandra Arya said the party told him that he would not be permitted to run in the contest.
Arya was the first sitting MP to launch a leadership campaign and vowed to dump the monarchy if elected. He also said he doesn’t speak French and doesn’t believe it would matter to French-speaking Canadians. The suburban Ottawa MP was elected in 2015 and has been a backbencher ever since.
Under the rules set by the party, candidates had until 5 p.m. ET last Thursday to submit a nomination package including the signatures of 300 registered Liberals (including at least 100 from three different provinces or territories) and a $50,000 refundable deposit.
The accepted candidates must put up a $350,000 total entry fee, made over four instalments between Jan. 23 and Feb. 17.
As the race barrels toward a March 9 vote, the candidates’ policies are trickling out, but no one has outlined their full platform.
Carney, Freeland secure most endorsements
Carney and Freeland are seen as the two front-runners in the race to succeed Trudeau, having secured the most caucus endorsements so far.
On Thursday Carney, a former Bank of Canada governor, released a campaign video taking aim at Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. The Opposition party has been critical of Carney for years, and has ramped up its attacks since he launched his campaign — suggesting he’s a Liberal insider who favours unpopular and costly policies.
“You can’t stand up to Trump when you’re working from his playbook,” said Carney in the video.
“[Poilievre] has been a politician his entire life, and in all that time, he hasn’t fixed a thing. He just complains.”
A campaign source said Wednesday that Freeland would scrap changes to the capital gains tax that she introduced as finance minister.
It’s the second key Liberal policy Freeland has walked away from in her bid to become the next Liberal leader and prime minister. Freeland would drop the consumer carbon tax if she wins.
Last week, Freeland also promised to shake up the party’s constitution to develop a process for leadership reviews — a swipe at Trudeau. The prime minister faced mounting calls from caucus to resign last year, but they were left without a mechanism to force him out.
“We can never again be in a position where the leader is the only person who decides who the leader is,” she said last week.
“I think Liberal Party grassroots members and caucus need to have a greater say in what we do and how we do it.”
