Mark Carney, candidate for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada, leaves after participating in a scrum with journalists on the sidewalk outside the venue of his campaign event in Ottawa, on Jan. 23.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Liberal leadership candidates Chrystia Freeland and Karina Gould are moving to court the party’s grassroots as cabinet ministers and the party establishment continue to line up behind former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, who has been playing up his financial credentials.
In his first public comments since announcing a run for the federal Liberal leadership, Mr. Carney told reporters Thursday that he is picking up widespread support because the country is ready for a leader with the skill set to revive the slow-growth economy.
“We can put this economy back on track as a team,” he said, promising to build the strongest economy in the G7 and “to stand up to the Americans.” He argued that he is ready to take over as prime minister even though he has never held elected office.
“I have had many jobs where I have come in at the top. I came in at the top of the Bank of England, the Bank of Canada, in terms of the United Nations and climate change,” he said on the way into a private reception of cabinet ministers, MPs and party faithful.
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Asked how he could run as an outsider when it appears that the majority of cabinet, caucus and Liberal Party stalwarts are lining up behind him, he replied, “We believe in good judgment and thus far Liberals are showing very good judgment.”
So far Ms. Freeland isn’t running on her record as a former finance minister. Instead, she pledged Thursday to loosen the top-down control over Liberal caucus and party members, a response to criticism that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lost touch with the rank-and-file over his 12 years as party leader.
“For me the real emphasis is reviving the party, reviving the grassroots of the party, reviving a real democratization process,” she told reporters. “We can never again be in a position where the leader is the only person who decides who the leader is.”
Mr. Trudeau announced his resignation earlier this month. His decision came after Ms. Freeland quit as finance minister, in part because Mr. Trudeau wanted to replace her with Mr. Carney.
But the lack of a mechanism for caucus to remove Mr. Trudeau was a major frustration for many Liberal MPs over the past several months as they expressed the desire for him to step down.
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While Ms. Freeland is now promising a new process for leadership reviews, Ms. Gould pointed out Thursday that the caucus could also adopt the Reform Act, the law that gives caucus the ability to vote out their leaders. The Liberals did not vote to adopt the bill at the start of this parliamentary session.
Ms. Gould, an MP and former cabinet minister, told reporters she would also hold regular meetings with party riding executives and bring back policy conventions.
“One of the reasons why I think we lost touch over the past couple of years is because we weren’t listening to our membership,” she said during a news conference outside Liberal Party headquarters in downtown Ottawa, where she submitted her official paperwork to enter the race.
Thursday was the deadline for contenders to submit a refundable $50,000 deposit and 300 signatures of party members in support of their bid.
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In addition to Mr. Carney, Ms. Freeland and Ms. Gould, current MPs Chandra Arya and Jaime Battiste, and former MPs Frank Baylis and Ruby Dhalla said they had submitted the required documents.
It could take the party as much as 10 days to formally approve candidates.
As of Thursday afternoon, Mr. Carney had the backing of at least 11 cabinet ministers, while Ms. Freeland had the support of five.
Why so many are backing Mr. Carney over Ms. Freeland was put to MPs in Ottawa on Thursday as they arrived for a caucus meeting.
Those supporting Ms. Freeland played down the question.
Justice Minister Arif Virani suggested that Mr. Carney had not stepped up to the plate when times were tough for the Liberal Party in the past. Ms. Freeland has run in four elections, and ran even when the party was in third place, he said.
“We have got someone with a proven record on how to stand up to President Trump. She had done it before with the NAFTA renegotiations. She succeeded with flying colours.”
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Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly acknowledged Ms. Freeland’s work on trade talks but said it is Mr. Carney she wants to see in the top job.
“It is not only dealing with Trump, it is also to have a vision for the economy, to support Canadian workers across the country and to protect livelihoods,” she said.
For her part, Ms. Gould stressed that it is party members who ultimately make the choice and pointed out how quickly she was able to amass the money and support to enter the contest.
“And unlike some of the other candidates, I’ve only been organizing for two weeks,” she said.