Many Canadians are wondering what’s next for the country after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his intention to resign as Liberal leader and prime minister once a replacement is selected to take over the party.
With the prorogation of Parliament, the future of the Liberal party and Canada’s Parliament has been thrown into limbo.
Trudeau announced on the steps of Rideau Cottage that he would be stepping down, citing tumult within the Liberal caucus.
This means that the Liberal party will be thrown into a sudden leadership race in which prominent liberal MPs, cabinet and inner party circles are expected to back different candidates to take over.
As stipulated by the Liberal Party of Canada constitution, once a leader indicates his resignation, the party’s board of directors sets a date for the leadership vote and organizes a leadership expenses committee as well as a leadership votes committee.
These committees collectively set the rules of the leadership election. For example, the leadership expenses committee sets the dollar amount that leadership contestants must raise in order to become eligible to be placed on the ballot.
As reported in the Globe and Mail, Liberal party officials say that they would prefer if a Liberal leadership race occurred over a three month period.
The Liberal party’s constitution requires leadership contestants to submit an application to run for the party’s leadership a minimum 90 days before the vote with at least 300 party members from three provinces required to sign the application.
There is also another requirement for the party to publish registration procedures so that party members can participate in the leadership vote.
This means that a Liberal leadership election is required to be at least 117 days long or almost 4 months long per the party’s constitution.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated that he had asked the Governor General to prorogue parliament until March 24 to give his party time to select a new leader.
This means that unless the Liberal party’s board of directors disregards the party’s constitution, a liberal leader will most likely not be chosen before Parliament returns.
Potential candidates for the Liberal leadership include former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, former central banker Mark Carney, former British Columbia premier Christy Clark, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, and Transport Minister President Anita Anand.
A recent public opinion poll from Angus Reid found that Freeland is the candidate who would make a greater number of Canadians rethink their voting intentions compared to any other possible contender.
Prime Minister Trudeau‘s announcement of prorogation also means that opposition parties are unable to vote non-confidence in the Liberal government
While the Conservative party has been pressing to vote down the Liberal government for years, and the Bloc Québécois leader for months, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh recently indicated his intent to join the Tories and the Bloc in voting the Liberal government down no matter who is the leader.
While the Conservatives attempted to call a non-confidence vote as soon as January through a House of Commons committee, the opposition no longer has this option with Parliament prorogued.