Who are the candidates to become Canada’s next prime minister?

Published

2 months ago

March 9, 2025

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Canada is set for a new prime minister as the ruling Liberal Party prepares to announce Justin Trudeau’s replacement as leader.

Mr Trudeau, who has been prime minister since 2015, announced he was stepping down in January after facing calls to quit from a chorus of his own MPs.

The 53-year-old’s popularity had declined as food and house prices rose.

The Liberal Party will announce its new leader tonight following a vote by around 140,000 members.

A former Bank of England governor has emerged as the frontrunner as the country deals with the impacts of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

The next prime minister will also have to decide when to call a general election – which must be held on or before 20 October.

As the Liberal Party prepares to choose its new leader, we take a look at the candidates.

Mark Carney

The 59-year-old will be a familiar face to many in the UK as he served as governor of the Bank of England between 2013 and 2020.

He was formerly the head of Canada’s central bank and was praised after the country recovered from the 2008 financial crisis faster than many other countries.

Mr Carney has picked up one endorsement after another from cabinet ministers and MPs since he declared his candidacy in January.

He did not serve in Mr Trudeau’s government but was named as the chair of a government task force on economic growth last September.

Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said Mr Carney’s calm demeanour and outstanding resume make him a reassuring figure to many Canadians at a time when Mr Trump is “going after their country’s economy and sovereignty”.

Chrystia Freeland

Ms Freeland, a former deputy prime minister and finance minister of Canada, was leading in the polls to replace Mr Trudeau shortly after he announced his resignation.

However, her long association with the outgoing prime minister and the threat of Mr Trump’s tariffs have since tipped things in Mr Carney’s favour.

The 56-year-old was born in the west Canadian province of Alberta to a Ukrainian mother.

Before entering politics in 2013, Ms Freeland worked as a journalist covering Russia and Ukraine for several years.

Mr Trudeau told Ms Freeland that he no longer wanted her as finance minister in December but that she could remain deputy prime minister and the point person for US-Canada relations.

She stepped down shortly after and released a scathing letter about the government which increased pressure on Mr Trudeau ahead of his resignation.

Karina Gould

Ms Gould is the youngest woman to serve as a minister in Canada and has advocated for a tough stance on Mr Trump.

The 37-year-old, who has served as minister of democratic institutions and minister of international development, has previously branded herself as part of a “generational shift” and said the Liberal Party “needs to embrace this shift too”.

Ms Gould has reportedly proposed an increase in corporate taxes on large companies earning more than CAN$500m (£270m) a year to encourage them to reinvest in business and productivity.

She was serving as house leader until January 2025 when she left the cabinet to run for party leader.

Frank Baylis

Mr Baylis, a businessman from Montreal, served as a Liberal Party politician between 2015 and 2019.

The 62-year-old has reportedly proposed creating two pipelines that would transport natural gas to international markets in Europe and Asia to reduce dependence on America.

Mr Baylis criticised Mr Trudeau for travelling to meet Mr Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in November.

He said: “Anybody’s that ever dealt with a bully successfully know you don’t give an inch.”

What’s next for Canada?

The new leader of the Liberal Party is expected to call a general election shortly after they take up the role.

After decades of bilateral stability, Canada’s next election is expected to focus on who is best equipped to deal with the United States.

Mr Trump’s trade war and his talk of making the country the 51st state have infuriated Canadians, who are booing the American anthem at NHL and NBA games.

Some are cancelling trips south and many are avoiding buying American goods when they can.

Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, has embraced a populist approach not unlike Mr Trump’s.

He attacks the mainstream media and has vowed to put “Canada First”.

Before Mr Trump’s inauguration, the Conservatives were widely expected to win the country’s next election.

However, the US president’s threats against Canada have led to a surge in popularity for the Liberal Party in the polls.

World

Nicusor Dan beats hard-right favourite George Simion in surprise win in Romanian election

Published

2 hours ago

May 18, 2025

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Nicusor Dan beats hard-right favourite George Simion in surprise win in Romanian election

Pro-Western candidate Nicusor Dan has unexpectedly beaten hard-right populist George Simion in the Romanian presidential election.

Mr Simion, 38, and his rival – a centrist who’s mayor of Bucharest – faced off in the second round of the contest.

According to the official tally, Mr Dan was leading by nearly nine percentage points with more than 98% of the votes counted.

After exit polls suggested he wasn’t going to win, Trump-supporting Mr Simion rejected the result and said estimates put him 400,000 votes ahead.

Speaking after voting ended, Mr Simion said his election was “clear” as he posted on Facebook: “I won!!! I am the new President of Romania and I am giving back the power to the Romanians!”

Romania’s last election was annulled after its highest court ruled the leading candidate, nationalist Calin Georgescu, should be disqualified due to claims of electoral interference by Russia.

The result is surprising because in the first round, 38-year-old Mr Simion, founder of the right-wing Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), took 40.96% of the vote – almost 20 points ahead.

An opinion poll on Friday had it much closer, but still suggested the two men were virtually tied.

Mr Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician, is running as an independent and has pledged to clamp down on corruption.

He is also staunchly pro-EU and NATO, and has said Romania’s support for Ukraine is vital for its own security.

When voting closed at 9pm local time, 11.6 million people – about 64% of eligible voters – had cast ballots. About 1.64 million Romanians living abroad also took part.

The election is being closely watched across Europe amid a rise of support for President Donald Trump.

After polls closed, Mr Dan said “elections are not about politicians” but about communities and that in the latest vote “a community of Romanians has won, a community that wants a profound change in Romania”.

“When Romania goes through difficult times, let us remember the strength of this Romanian society,” he said.

“There is also a community that lost today’s elections. A community that is rightly outraged by the way politics has been conducted in Romania up to now.”

World

Israel to allow ‘basic quantity of food’ into Gaza to avoid ‘starvation crisis’

Published

3 hours ago

May 18, 2025

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Israel to allow 'basic quantity of food' into Gaza to avoid 'starvation crisis'

Israel has said it will allow a “basic quantity of food” into the besieged enclave of Gaza to avoid a “starvation crisis” following a near three-month blockade.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the decision was “based on the operational need to enable the expansion of the military operation to defeat Hamas”.

Gaza, where local authorities say more than 53,000 people have died in Israel’s 19-month campaign, has been under a complete blockade on humanitarian aid since 2 March.

It comes as global food security experts warn of famine across the territory and after a UN-backed report issued last Monday which warned one in five people in Gaza were facing starvation.

The statement from the prime minister’s office said it would “allow a basic quantity of food to be brought in for the population in order to make certain that no starvation crisis develops in the Gaza Strip”.

“Such a crisis would endanger the continuation of Operation ‘Gideon’s Chariots’ to defeat Hamas,” it added.

“Israel will act to deny Hamas’s ability to take control of the distribution of humanitarian assistance in order to ensure that the assistance does not reach the Hamas terrorists.”

It comes after a British surgeon working in Gaza said in a video to Sky News the enclave is now “a slaughterhouse” amid Israeli bombardment.

Israel has just ramped up its offensive in Gaza, with Palestinian health officials reporting at least 130 people were killed overnight into Sunday.

Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed troops had begun “extensive ground operations throughout the northern and southern Gaza Strip”.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said 464 people had died in Israeli military strikes in the week to Sunday.

In a statement on Sunday, IDF said its air force struck “over 670 Hamas terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip to disrupt enemy preparations and support ground operations” over the past week.

Israel has launched an escalation to increase pressure on Hamas, seize territory, displace Palestinians to the south and take greater control over the distribution of aid.

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World

British surgeon working in Gaza says it is now ‘a slaughterhouse’ amid Israeli bombardment

Published

10 hours ago

May 18, 2025

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British surgeon working in Gaza says it is now 'a slaughterhouse' amid Israeli bombardment

A British surgeon working in southern Gaza has compared the region to a “slaughterhouse” because of the daily bombardment from Israeli forces.

Dr Tom Potokar, who is based at the European Hospital near Khan Younis in southern Gaza, offered his assessment of Israel’s military offensive after Palestinian health officials reported at least 130 people were killed overnight into Sunday.

Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have confirmed their troops have begun “extensive ground operations throughout the northern and southern Gaza Strip”.

In a video, Dr Potokar said it was “another day of devastation here in Gaza”, adding: “The stories coming from the north… absolutely horrific… particularly around the Indonesian Hospital.”

“I mean, it’s difficult to describe in words what’s happening here… [with the] constant sound of bombardment jets overhead.

“If Cambodia was the killing fields, then Gaza now is the slaughterhouse.”

His reference to Cambodia’s killing fields refers to when more than a million people were murdered in mass executions and buried by the extreme communist guerrilla group, the Khmer Rouge, under Pol Pot, between 1975 and 1979.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said 464 people had died in Israeli military strikes in the week to Sunday.

Dr Potokar described the impact on those on the ground, saying: “We’ve been operating all morning so far and [treating] awful explosive injuries… [including] one young woman with leg fracture and shoulder fracture and a large wound on her buttock, who came in yesterday and is not yet aware that everyone in our family was killed in the onslaught.”

Israel has launched an escalation of its war in Gaza to ramp up pressure on Hamas, seize territory, displace Palestinians to the south and take greater control over the distribution of aid.

On Sunday, it announced and launched “extensive” new ground operations in Gaza.

It came after airstrikes killed more than 100 people, including dozens of children, overnight and into Sunday, hospitals and medics said, and forced northern Gaza’s main hospital to close.

A spokesperson for the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said: “Complete families were wiped off the civil registration record by Israeli bombardment”.

The ministry also said the bombardment had forced the closure of the Indonesian Hospital, the main hospital serving people in northern Gaza.

Nasser hospital, in the southern city of Khan Younis, said more than 48 people – mostly women and children – were killed in the area which includes tents sheltering displaced people.

In Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, at least 12 people were killed in three separate strikes, according to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and the Nuseirat camp’s Awda Hospital.

Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry and the Palestinian Civil Defence – which operates under the Hamas-run government – reported that 19 people were killed in several strikes in Jabalia in northern Gaza.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes.

Read more from Sky News:
How Israel has escalated Gaza bombing campaign

Ceasefire talks are taking place in Qatar this weekend – with Israel saying they involve discussions on ending the war as well as a truce and hostage deal.

A statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said any lasting truce must include the demilitarisation of Gaza as well as the exile of Hamas militants.

But a senior Israeli official added there had been little progress so far during talks in Qatar’s capital Doha.

Sky News Arabia reported Hamas had proposed freeing about half its Israeli hostages in exchange for a two-month ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

A Palestinian official close to the discussions said: “Hamas is flexible about the number of hostages it can free, but the problem has always been over Israel’s commitment to end the war.”