Chrystia Freeland, the former finance minister, is set to announce her candidacy for the Liberal Party leadership just before the upcoming U.S. presidential inauguration, according to a source close to her campaign team.
Freeland’s campaign will kick off with a strong policy stance: a promise to impose dollar-for-dollar tariffs on U.S. imports. This measure is aimed at countering the 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has vowed to enact on his inauguration day, January 20.
Freeland resigned from her cabinet position in December, shortly after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau informed her that she would be replaced as finance minister by Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada.
In her resignation letter, Freeland highlighted policy disagreements with Trudeau, particularly over the proposed GST holiday, which she criticized as “gimmicky politics” that Canada could not afford.
The Liberal Party is set to select its new leader on March 9, 2025, in what is expected to be a competitive race.