Liberal leadership: Here's where the candidates stand on key issues
Vote for the party's new leader concludes March 9
As the Liberal leadership race heads into its final stretch, the four candidates jockeying to become the next prime minister continue to roll out campaign promises.
The race was triggered when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in early January he'd be stepping down, after nine years in office.
Here's what the hopefuls say they'll support, and what Trudeau-era policies they would drop.
Trump and tariffs
Looming over the Liberal leadership race is the existential threat posed by Trump's continual talk of annexation and his repeated threats to slap stiff tariffs on Canadian goods.
Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, who led Canada's response to Trump during his first administration, is calling for Canada to take a more aggressive stance, including dollar-for-dollar retaliation on any tariffs and 100 per cent tariffs on Teslas, the electric vehicles made by key Trump adviser Elon Musk. Freeland has also suggested a retaliation list should be published "immediately to allow for maximum pressure."
Former central banker Mark Carney has been more reticent to speak about how he'd take on Trump, suggesting it's "not a good idea to insert yourself in the middle of a negotiation [and] give conflicting signals." He has however said he supports dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs.
Former House leader Karina Gould's platform promises a "charm offensive" to stave off tariffs. She's also promised to take supply management off the table in future trade negotiations.
Former Liberal MP Frank Baylis has said Trudeau and Canada's premiers have made "mistake after mistake" dealing with Trump's threats. The Montreal-based businessman said the only way to deal with a bully like Trump is to dig in your heels and refuse to offer him anything.
In the longer term, all of the candidates have said they'd attract investment, diversify trade and ease internal trade barriers in the face of an increasingly protectionist White House.
Freeland, Carney and Gould have all said they would bail on the Trudeau government's plan to hike capital gains taxes out of concern it will hamper business investment.
Climate and energy
The campaign so far has seen the contenders turn against the consumer carbon tax.
Not long after launching her bid, Freeland promised to scrap the Trudeau government's marquee environmental policy.
Carney, once a vocal proponent of carbon pricing, has said he'd replace the consumer carbon tax with an incentive program that he promises will reward Canadians for making green choices.
Gould has suggested pausing the planned April 1 tax increase until a viable alternative can be put in place.
Baylis, the first person to throw their hat in the ring, has said he would "put a price on pollution in an intelligent way" and would invest in projects that have a positive impact on the environment.
All of the candidates have made heavy emitters a key part of their climate strategies, either saying outright or hinting that they would keep the federal requirement for industrial carbon pricing.
When it comes to energy projects, Freeland is promising to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Canada's allies.
Part of Carney's economic platform includes expanding Canada's energy infrastructure to be less dependent on foreign suppliers and the United States. He has said he supports "the concept" of a west-east oil pipeline.
Baylis said if elected, he'd approve pipelines to transport Alberta's LNG west and east, to reach global markets.
Cost of living
Trudeau's government was widely criticized for a perceived lack of attention to Canadians' concerns around the cost of living, from groceries to housing.
So it's no surprise the candidates have all made reducing those anxieties pillars of their campaigns.
Freeland's plan includes cutting the second income tax bracket from 20.5 per cent to 19 per cent and a promise to cap credit card interest rates.
The Toronto MP also said she'll lower grocery prices by capping profit margins on essentials such as eggs, milk, fruits and vegetables, canned goods and baby formula.
Carney, who was an economic adviser to the Liberal Party last fall, hinted he'll have more to say about cutting taxes for the middle class and providing "additional boosts" to the incomes of younger Canadians.
Gould has laid out some of her plans to address affordability concerns, including temporarily lowering the GST to four per cent for one year. She has promised to widen the eligibility for employment insurance and introduce a universal basic income program.
She's also called to beef up the powers of the Competition Bureau to better investigate reports of price gouging and over-pricing.
Baylis's platform calls for improving Canada's productivity and economy as a way to help Canadians concerned about cost of living.
Calling education "the cornerstone of long-term prosperity," he said he'd advocate for increased funding for universities. He also said he'll invest in large-scale capital projects, including social housing, rail projects and expanded public transit, to create jobs.
Housing
As part of her plan to get more Canadians into homes, Freeland said she'd tie the number of newcomers Canada admits to housing availability. She has also pledged to drop the GST from sales of new homes worth up to $1.5 million.
Carney is pledging to double the pace of new housing construction over a decade and said his government would scrap the GST for first-time homebuyers on homes under $1 million, something Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has floated.
He has also promised to cap immigration until it returns to sustainable, pre-pandemic trends, a promise he says will help ease the cost-of-living and housing crises.
When it comes to housing, Gould has promised to expand co-operative housing, "accelerate" modular housing construction and offer a $2,000 tax credit to first-time homebuyers.
Baylis is also in favour of having immigration targets align with housing supply. He said he'd offer incentives to local governments to achieve housing development targets and modify the National Building Code to streamline approvals of modular homes.
Spending
Since resigning from Trudeau's cabinet in December, Freeland has pitched herself as someone who would have a steadier hand on the economy than her former boss. In her searing resignation letter in December, she took aim at what she called Trudeau's "costly political gimmicks."
Her website promises to use "tax dollars responsibly." She said she would pay for her measures, including her affordability plan, by "reducing the cost of running government — without cutting the benefits and services Canadians count on."
She said she'll do that by "cutting red tape, streamlining how government does business and leveraging new digital and AI tools to deliver benefits and services to Canadians, faster and better."
Carney has repeatedly promised to "build the fastest growing economy in the G7" and rein in government spending.
He said he'd split the budget into two streams — capital and operating spending. He said he'd balance the operating side, such as government-run programs, federal transfers to provinces and territories and debt service charges, over the next three years.
He has said he'd run "a small deficit on capital spending."
Gould has said she'd permanently increase the corporate tax rate — from 15 per cent to 17 per cent — on companies that make more than $500 million per year in profits.
Her campaign said she's against making major cuts to the public service.
Freeland and Gould's teams did not respond to a CBC News request about how they'll deal with the federal government's $61.9-billion deficit.
Baylis, who sold his company Baylis Medical Company Inc. to Boston Scientific Corporation in 2022 for $1.75 billion, has called this government's spending "unsustainable" and said he'd pivot to "prudent spending."
He said he'd give a timeline to eliminate the deficit after consulting with the Parliamentary Budget Office and gaining access to the government's books.
Defence
All four candidates are in favour of increasing defence spending, but are offering different timelines to meet Canada's commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to spend at least two per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence.
Freeland and Gould believe they can get Canada there by 2027. Carney has suggested 2030 as his mark — two years ahead of the current plan.
Baylis is committing to hit that benchmark by 2029.
Carney is promising to invest in "made-in-Canada" defence equipment and strengthen Canada's presence in the Arctic with targeted investments in dual-use infrastructure — such as deepwater ports and runways.
Freeland and Gould have said they would meet the NATO spending target in part by improving the compensation of Canadian soldiers.
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With files from The Canadian Press