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Will Canada choose a woman prime minister to replace Trudeau?
Is it possible that Anita Anand could become the first woman MP of South Asian descent to succeed Justin Trudeau?
President of the Treasury Board Anita Anand walks down stairs on Parliament Hill the day after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland unexpectedly resigned, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Dec.17, 2024. / REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
Will Canada choose its first woman Prime Minister as a successor to Justin Trudeau? This is a million-dollar question being asked in political circles not only in Canada but also elsewhere as the outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau always took pride in giving his women colleagues their due.
When he has decided to quit the leadership of the Liberal caucus to make room for a new Prime Minister, an interesting gender battle is expected in the race for the Prime Minister’s post.
Liberals are all set to choose a new leader. Among the possible candidates to replace him are several women, including Chrystia Freeland, his once trusted deputy and former Finance Minister; Melanie Joly, Foreign Minister; and Anita Anand, the former President of the Treasury Board and the present Transport Minister.
Anita Anand is the sole representative of MPs of South Asian descent in the run for the Liberal Party leadership. She has avoided controversies and is considered a trusted lieutenant of Justin Trudeau. Like Chrystia Freeland, she is also a woman of few words.
Late last year, New York Times profiled Melanie Joly as a potential replacement for Justin Trudeau. It happened a couple of days after US President-elect Donald Trump started mocking Canada and its Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a meeting held at his resort in Florida.
When Justin Trudeau reshuffled his ministers after Chrystia Freeland's shocking exit, Karina Gould was projected for a possible upgrade to Cabinet rank. However, she was not disturbed by her present role. Instead, Justin Trudeau brought in Ruby Sahota to give the South Asian community a pleasant surprise.
Incidentally, the President of the Liberal Party of Canada, Sachit Mehra, is also of Indian origin.
Within hours of the announcement made by Justin Trudeau to step down from the Liberal leadership, names of a number of candidates, both Insiders and outsiders, started doing the rounds in the running for the Liberal leadership.
At present, there are 18 MPs of Indian origin in the Liberal caucus. One of them, Chandra Arya, has thrown his weight behind the former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland, whose stunning resignation letter hours before she was to present the fall Financial Report, set the ball rolling for change of the top political position.
Incidentally, after her resignation last month, Chrystia Freeland has been staying clear of any controversy while maintaining her silence. She has refused to be drawn into any controversy while support for her elevation to the top position has been growing stronger by the day.
Potential candidates will soon be making public pitches as to why they're best positioned to succeed Trudeau. Some have already begun sending subtle — and not-so-subtle — signals about their interest in the top job.
Senior Liberals will soon be lining up for the party's — and country's — top job and they include Chrystia Freeland, Melanie Joly (Foreign Minister who retorted to Donald Trump’s continuous mocking of making Canada 51st State of the United States saying Canada would not be averse to take over part of Florida as it serves summer home for many Canadians), besides the Leader of the House, Karina Gould, and the Transport Minister, Anita Anand. A former Premier of British Columbia, Christie Clark, too, has thrown her hat in the race for the Liberal leadership.
Among the male contenders, were the new Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, former Governor of Bank of Canada, Mark Carney (outsider), François-Philippe Champagne, a senior and long-time Cabinet Minister; and former MP Frank Baylis. A couple of other insiders and outsiders may join the race as the developments have started unfolding.
Mark Carney was once tipped to be the new Finance Minister after Chrystia Freeland left the scene. He, however, reportedly refused to join the Cabinet.
Whosoever succeeds Justin Trudeau may have a short tenure in the office as all three Opposition parties have been reiterating their threat of bringing in a no-confidence, the fourth against the Liberal government, at the earliest possible opportunity. This may not happen till April as the House of Commons will reassemble on March.24. The first thing to happen on the Opposition days will be a presentation of no-confidence motion, in all probability, it will be Conservatives who have been gunning for the Trudeau-led Liberals for a long time.
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