On January 6, Justin Trudeau stepped down as the Prime Minister of Canada amid his rising unpopularity among the Canadian public for quite some time. While resigning from the top post, Trudeau said he intends to resign as the party leader and as the prime minister after the Liberal Party selects its next leader.
The Liberal Party now has two top priorities -- appoint an interim leader on the recommendation of the national caucus and hold a shortened leadership contest wherein the Prime Minister would request Canadian Governor-General Mary Simon prorogue Parliament.
Here's a look at the top contendors in race to succeed Trudeau
Melanie Joly
Before being named the Foreign Minister in 2021, Joly held three other cabinet positions. In her stint as the Foreign Minister, Joly visited Ukraine several times and also visited Jordan to oversee the evacuation of Canadian citizens after the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023.
She was also in the news when India-Canada relations hit an all-time low last year over Trudeau's claims of India's alleged involvement in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.
At the time, Joly said that it is "important" for India to engage with Canada's probe into the alleged involvement of Indian agents in Nijjar's killing. She also said that India's decision to remove 41 Canadian diplomats from the country was "unacceptable".
Anita Anand
The 57-year-old former defence minister is a Canadian lawyer and politician. She is currently serving as Canada's Minister of Transport and Internal Trade.
Before this, she was named Minister of Public Services and Procurement from November 2019 to October 2021. Later, she went onto head the Defence Ministry from October 2021 to July 2023.
As the Defence Minister, Anand oversaw Canada's efforts to provide aid for Ukraine amid the war with Russia. However, she was moved from the Defence Ministry to the Treasury Board until December 2024 as part of a cabinet reshuffle.
Anand has also held academic positions at several prestigious institutions such as Yale, Queen's University, and Western University, and was a law professor at the University of Toronto before joining politics.
Chrystina Freeland
At present, Freeland is serving as Canada's deputy PM and finance minister. In December, her public resignation statement criticised Trudeau for several policy failures and suggested that his exit was unavoidable. She also led Canada's financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pierre Poilievre
Poilievre, the 45-year-old Leader of the Conservative Party, is the frontrunner for the Canada PM's office in case the Liberals lose. In former PM Stephen Harper's administration, Poilievre served as the minister for democratic reform from 2013-15 and later as the minister of employment and social development in 2015.
As per the CBC, Poilievre has polled 44.2 per cent, almost 24 per cent higher than Trudeau for the top office in Canada.
In a recent interview, Poilievre slammed the Trudeau government as being "radical" while denouncing "wokeism". He also vowed to pursue "the biggest crackdown on crime in Canadian history". The Conservative Party leader has also proposed cutting federal sales tax on new homes valued under $1 million to address the housing crisis.
Mark Carney
The former of Bank of Canada Governor has served as a special adviser to Trudeau in the recent months. He was also the UN special envoy on climate action and is also known to champion Liberal policies such as the federal carbon tax, which have been unpopular.