All 5 Liberal leadership candidates clear final financial hurdle, turn to policies ahead of debate
French debate taking place Feb. 24, English debate happening on Feb. 25
All five Liberal leadership candidates say they've paid the final $125,000 due Monday evening that's required to stay in the race. Now, ahead of English and French debates in Montreal next week, the contenders are rolling out more policy proposals to sway Canadians to join their side.
On Monday morning, the Liberal Party announced former TVA-Québec anchor Pierre Jobin would moderate the French leadership debate in Montreal on Feb. 24. The party also announced former CBC News host Hannah Thibedeau would moderate the English debate that will take on Feb. 25.
Ahead of those two debates, candidates have been trotting out policy proposals on a whole host of issues, including federal government spending, housing, energy, food security and employment insurance.
Here's the latest from each of the five candidates before their Montreal showdown:
Mark Carney
The former governor of the Bank of Canada is considered the front-runner in the contest by the Liberal caucus, boasting more than 80 endorsements from MPs and cabinet ministers. On Monday afternoon, Carney's campaign told CBC News it's submitted the final $125,000 instalment.
On Sunday, Carney sat down for an interview on Rosemary Barton Live and said a federal government led by him would run a deficit "to invest and a grow" Canada's economy.
But it would also balance its operational spending — like government-run programs, federal transfers and debt services charges — over the course of the next three years.
Carney invoked U.S. President Donald Trump's ongoing threat of sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods to justify his proposed deficit.
Carney also said he supports "the concept" of a west-east oil pipeline, an idea that's regained steam from some federal cabinet ministers and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. He added his government would accelerate approvals for such pipelines and for clean energy.
Canada is also making a push to dismantle interprovincial trade barriers. Carney said he would "quickly convene" the country's premiers to work on the issue in the service of making "one economy here, not 13."
Chrystia Freeland
Former finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland trails Carney with 26 endorsements from Liberal MPs and cabinet ministers, though she's previously said her campaign is focused on the party's grassroots.
Freeland, who led Canada's response to Trump during his first term, has angled herself to voters as a tested negotiator to take on the U.S. president during his second term.
In an interview on Sunday with MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi, Freeland said Trump's tariffs — which would most likely trigger a trade war between Canada and the U.S. — are an "act of huge self-mutilation."
The U.S. is threatening two actions. The first is a worldwide tariff of 25 per cent on steel and aluminum starting March 12. The second, which has been paused until March 4, is an economy-wide 25 per cent tariff on Canada and Mexico while the Trump administration works on border-security deals with both countries.
Freeland has pledged dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs if Trump makes good on his threat, as has Carney.
On Sunday morning, Freeland announced her 10-point plan to tackle Canada's housing crisis. Her proposal includes tying the number of new immigrants to housing availability, bringing back rent-to-own programs, giving renters credit for on-time rent payments, building more affordable housing and kick-starting modular housing factories.
Last Tuesday, Freeland also outlined a suite of policies aimed to improving the cost of living for Canadians, including an income tax cut for millions of people and policies she says will lower the price of groceries and reduce credit card debt.
She is vowing to cut the second income tax bracket rate from 20.5 per cent to 19 per cent. Freeland's team said that will save 11 million Canadians around $550 per year, or $1,100 for a couple.
Freeland is also promising to cap profit margins on eggs, milk, fruits and vegetables, canned goods and baby formula. She also wants to cap credit card interest rates at 15 per cent and work toward a 10 per cent cap.
Karina Gould
Former government House leader Karina Gould has picked up endorsements from MPs Lisa Hepfner and Pam Damoff. Her campaign told CBC News on Sunday it made the final payment four days in advance of the Monday deadline.
In an interview on Power & Politics airing Monday, Gould said the $125,000 "was a high fee, but we've got momentum across the country." She added her average donation is $130.
The 37-year-old has presented herself as a younger, "fresh" voice for the party, who listens to the grassroots.
On Thursday, Gould said she would widen the eligibility for Canada's employment insurance system and introduce a universal basic income program if she becomes the country's next prime minister. She also promised to bolster supports for vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities.
During her Power & Politics interview, Gould also said a west-east pipeline is "worth a conversation," but referenced the dismal fate of Energy East, which was Canada's latest attempt get that kind of pipeline up and running.
"There wasn't a business case for it," Gould said. "It didn't make financial sense. So I think we need to have that dialogue and have that conversation about whether economically it makes sense for us or whether there are other things that we can and should be doing."
When asked about Donald Trump's threats, Gould stressed the importance of a "strong, forceful response" to the U.S. president and his proposed tariffs.
Gould has also promised pausing the increases on the consumer carbon tax, exempting supply management from any future trade negotiations and bolstering the powers of the Competition Bureau to better investigate reports of price gouging and over-pricing.
Frank Baylis
Montreal business leader Frank Baylis, the first person to declare his intent to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, told CBC News on Monday that he didn't have any issues raising the required dollars for the leadership race.
He added most of his supporters are from "cultural communities" and people in the business world.
Also on Monday, Baylis unveiled his energy security plan.
The former Liberal MP wants to establish and approve two pipeline corridors to transport natural gas to markets in Europe and Asia, invest in Canada's Small Modular Reactor Action Plan as well as the country's electrical power transmission grid and fund research and development for renewable energy.
"We need to be planning for the future. We need to diversity from Americans," Baylis told CBC News.
Baylis also criticized the federal government's approach to handling Trump and said he "would change all of it" — taking aim at Trudeau's decision to fly down to the U.S. president's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida back in November.
"I can protect our industries that [Trump's] going to attack. I can effectively counterattack and wait him out. I've dealt with this before, I can do it again," Baylis also said.
Baylis has also proposed a government reform plan that would limit terms for senators and MPs to 10 years, create a second chamber for debate in the House of Commons and redistribute power to MPs rather than party leaders.
He's also called for Canada to recognize Palestinian statehood and to invest in rebuilding efforts in Gaza.
Ruby Dhalla
Former MP Ruby Dhalla, who is billing herself as the true outsider in the race, told reporters on Monday her campaign paid the $125,000 last Friday. She said thousands of Liberals are supporting her vision for Canada and "that's why people have been so generous in their donations.
Dhalla has been running to the right of her opponents, promising to deport illegal immigrants and impose life sentences for possession of hard drugs. She's also called for an "economic czar" to identify waste and overspending and a new "health czar" to review Canada's health-care system.
On Monday, Dhalla said she wouldn't allow Canada's economy "to ever be held at the mercy of any foreign leader" and vowed to sit down with Trump to get a deal.
She also said Canada needs to deliver health care differently and should start going for a community-based model that loops in nurse practitioners and pharmacies.
Earlier in the campaign, Dhalla said her team planned to ask the Liberal Party for an interpreter at the upcoming French debate in Montreal, since she's not fluent in the language but is currently learning. That request was rebuffed by the party on Thursday.
Her plan for the debate is to deliver opening and closing remarks in French and answer "as many questions as I can." Dhalla also said she will be fully bilingual "in the coming months," and vowed to have a deputy prime minister from Quebec if she became prime minister.
The Liberal Party will choose its next leader — and Canada's next prime minister — on March 9.
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With files from Catharine Tunney