Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland, former minister of finance and deputy prime minister, leaves after attending a meeting of the Liberal caucus in West Block on Parliament Hill on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

By Canadian Press

Liberal Leadership Race

All eyes are on Freeland after Carney enters the race to replace Trudeau

Jan 17, 2025 | 10:19 AM

OTTAWA — Chrystia Freeland is pledging not to back down from Donald Trump’s tariff threats should she be the next leader of the Liberal party and prime minister of Canada.

Freeland wrote an op-ed in the Toronto Star saying she’s launching her campaign officially on Sunday.

The former finance minister was a key player in responding to Trump tariffs during his first term in the White House, overseeing a dollar-for-dollar tariff response to Trump’s imposition of import taxes in 2018. Freeland is also expected to come out against consumer carbon pricing — a key policy of her own Liberal government.

Government House leader Karina Gould is expected to launch her campaign in the coming days, and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson has also indicated he will soon announce his final decision on whether he’ll run.

Potential candidates have less than a week left to decide if they will enter the race.

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Freeland’s announcement comes after former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney officially launched his campaign to become the next Liberal leader yesterday.

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