1) Liberal leadership debate kicks off with questions about threat posed by Trump

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Nick Murray and Kyle Duggan,

Liberal Party of Canada leadership candidates are shown in a composite image made from a combination of file photos. From left to right, Karina Gould in Toronto, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025; Mark Carney in Hamilton, Ont., Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025; Chrystia Freeland in Ottawa, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025; Frank Baylis in Ottawa, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn, Ron Poling, Justin Tang

He wasn’t on the stage but U.S. President Donald Trump’s shadow towered over the Liberal leadership race during Monday night’s French-language debate.

The candidates — former central banker Mark Carney, former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, former government House leader Karina Gould and former MP Frank Baylis — spent much of the debate talking about the threat Trump poses to Canada’s economy and sovereignty.

Carney said that Trump has changed since his first term and is now more “isolationist, more aggressive.”

“Trump of today, he isn’t the same as before,” he said. “Before, he wanted a piece of our economy. Now, he wants our country.”

Carney said that the first step when negotiating trade with the Americans is to be clear about what won’t be on the table: supply management, culture and water.

“We need to focus on what we can control,” he said. “We can’t control President Trump. We need to reinforce our economy immediately. It will reinforce our negotiating position.”

Gould agreed and said Canada needs to stand up for its economy.

“We need to understand that Canadian businesses have a lot to offer the world,” she said. “Not just the United States but other countries.”

Freeland said Trump poses a once-in-a-generation threat to Canadian sovereignty.

“Trump represents the biggest threat to Canada since World War II. He threatens us with economic war,” Freeland said in her opening remarks.

“Last time he was president, he threatened us. And I was successful in protecting Canada. This time, his threats are worse.”

Baylis said the talk of negotiation with Trump is meaningless, since Canada already has a trade agreement in place which isn’t being respected by the American president.

He proposed forming a new economic alliance with the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

Based on polls and fundraising to date, Carney is the clear front-runner — making him the target of Conservative attack ads in recent weeks. Opinion surveys suggest his candidacy has helped the Liberals close the polling gap with the Conservatives, though questions about his proficiency in French lingered leading up to Monday’s debate.

During an exchange about the war in Gaza, Carney stumbled by saying that the Liberal candidates were in agreement “with” Hamas. Carney later clarified, saying he meant to state that the candidates were all in agreement on their positions on Hamas.

The Conservatives quickly jumped on the slip-up and questioned Carney’s ability to communicate clearly in French.

“You don’t control the question, only your answer. The higher up you go, the more this matters,” Conservative MP Dan Albas posted on X, in response to Liberal MP Anthony Housefather coming to Carney’s defence.

“If Mr. Carney doesn’t understand that, he should not be seeking the highest office in the country.”

In the post-debate press conference, the first question Carney faced was on his command of the French language.

“I look forward to having a debate with (Bloc Québécois Leader) Yves-François Blanchet and (Conservative Leader) Pierre Poilievre in the French language,” Carney said, switching to French halfway through his answer.

On the topic of health care, Baylis presented the most detailed plan of any candidate on the stage.

Prompted by a question on how to improve Quebec’s health-care system, Baylis — who made his fortune in medical technology — spoke confidently about his vision to “build the best health-care system in the world.”

“Right now we only have two doors to enter the health system. You either have a doctor or you have to go to the emergency room,” he said.

“So I want to form more nurse practitioners, invest in homecare, and I want to enlarge the practice of pharmacists to give them more diagnosing power.”

Freeland was the first to answer the question and pitched her plan to recruit doctors and nurses from the U.S. to Canada.

Carney spoke about eliminating obstacles for doctors and nurses in Canada and utilizing artificial intelligence in health care, while Gould spoke of holding the provinces more accountable for how they spend their federal health transfers.

“In my view, there was too much money spent without results. It’s not for the federal government to have these results, it’s Canadians because it’s their money,” Gould said, adding she wants agreements with provinces and territories on mental health services.

The candidates knew the broad themes they would be discussing going into the debate but not the specific questions they would be asked.

With little time remaining until voting begins, and just two weeks before the winner is announced, these debates are the only opportunities Liberal supporters will get to see the candidates together.

Advance voting opens Wednesday for party members. 

The winner of the race, to be announced March 9, will replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as both Liberal leader and prime minister, though a general election call is widely expected soon after the votes are counted.

2)Liberal party kicks Ruby Dhalla out of leadership race

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Kyle Duggan, Catherine Morrison, February 21, 2025

Former MP Ruby Dhalla was disqualified from the Liberal leadership race Friday after the party’s vote committee said she had violated multiple rules.

Dhalla rejected the decision — which comes five days after contestants paid the final deposit in the $350,000 entry fee and three days before the candidate debates in Montreal — and said the party just did not want her to win.

Party national director Azam Ishmael said in a statement published late Friday that the decision was made unanimously by a joint sitting of both the vote and expense committees, which “determined that Dr. Dhalla was in breach of 10 violations of the National Leadership Rules, Leadership Vote Rules, and the Leadership Expense Rules,” he said.

He said those include alleged violations of the Canada Elections Act, not disclosing “material facts,” inaccurate financial reporting and other election finance violations.

Ishmael said the investigation was extensive, including “interviews, questionnaires and an opportunity for Dr. Dhalla to directly address the committees.”

“The Leadership Vote Committee determined that the violations were extremely serious, accepted the recommendation of the chief electoral officer and disqualified Dr. Dhalla under section 8(i) of the National Leadership Rules,” he wrote.

However, in an interview, Dhalla said she received a text from the party telling her she was going to be disqualified by the end of the day, before she was interviewed by the committee.

She did still make a submission to the committee and said she then heard from CBC News that the decision had been confirmed, before she got anything more from the party.

“It’s a sad day for democracy, it’s a sad day for the Liberal party,” said Dhalla. “They have taken out now the second person of an immigrant community out of the race, this is not the Liberal party, certainly, that is the voice of the immigrants who helped build it.”

Ottawa MP Chandra Arya was disqualified at the start of the race but the party did not provide a public explanation.

Dhalla called the allegations against her “false” and “fabricated.” 

“Yesterday was foreign interference, today it’s financial violations and who knows what they’ll say tomorrow, but it’s clear that they did not want me on that debate stage and wanted to keep me off the ballot.”

Dhalla said her campaign’s internal polling showed that she was building momentum and that she and Mark Carney were “running neck to neck” in some areas and that the party eliminated her because they wanted to “complete the coronation for Carney.”

Multiple polls have suggested that Carney is the clear front-runner in the leadership race. A Leger poll for The Canadian Press also suggested with him at the party’s helm the Liberals would be tied in the polls with the Conservatives, which would be a stunning reversal after the Liberals trailed by more than 20 points for over a year.

Carney also leads the race in fundraising, with campaign data released by Elections Canada showing that he had raised $1.9 million as of Feb. 9. Dhalla came in last out of all the candidates, raising $144,880.

Dhalla said the timing of the allegations was also “interesting.” 

She confirmed that the party had sent her 27 questions asking about various campaign issues but that they only came after she had sent the final instalment of the $350,000 entry fee.

“It’s unfortunate because we actually provided the party with all of the supporting documentation, even in places where they were overreaching, even in places where it would not be required,” Dhalla said. “I think they actually had a preset, determined agenda.”

Dhalla said there is an appeal process available but that she is “taking a look at all options.” She attended a preplanned fundraising event in Mississauga, Ont., Friday night despite the party’s decision.

In posts on X, Dhalla identified some of the concerns raised by the party but said she had done nothing wrong.

She said six out of several hundred donations involved a couple using their joint credit card to make donations for both the husband and wife.

“This is entirely LEGAL,” she posted.

She said another “fabricated violation” was that donors made $21,000 in contributions directly to her campaign instead of using the required custom link that sends the funds first to the party. 

“The campaign refunded the donations and asked the donors to resubmit them via the customized link,” she said. “These donations estimated $21,000. This was not a VIOLATION. Yet another fake, false and fabricated allegation, designed to keep me from the ballot.”

This disqualification narrows the field to four candidates: former Bank of Canada governor Carney, former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, Montreal businessman Frank Baylis and former Liberal House leader Karina Gould.

They will face each other in a French-language debate in Montreal Monday, followed by an English-language debate on Tuesday.

The party selects its next leader on March 9.