Monday February 24, 2025 | NATIONAL NEWS [Posted from VICTORIA, BC]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The highly anticipated federal Liberal Party of Canada Leadership candidate debates are scheduled for tonight and tomorrow night.
They will be televised and livestreamed from Montreal, starting at 8 pm Eastern (5 pm Pacific):
- A debate in French is scheduled for Monday February 24, starting at 8 pm Eastern (5 pm Pacific).
- The debate in English is scheduled for Tuesday February 25, starting at 8 pm Eastern (5 pm Pacific).
The debates will be broadcast on major TV news platforms including CBC and CTV (where pundit input will begin one hour ahead of debate time).
The debates will be livestreamed on the Liberal Party of Canada website.
Candidates:
All four leadership candidates will be participating: Frank Baylis, Mark Carney, Chrystia Freeland, and Karina Gould.
The front runner is currently considered to be Mark Carney, based on various polls over recent weeks. Freeland carries the baggage of having stood by Trudeau’s side for nearly 10 years. Gould was Government House Leader and has been appealing to younger adult voters. Bayliss is not well known outside of Quebec.
Most top current cabinet ministers are heavily involved in the urgent work of Canada-USA border and tariff issues.
None of the current francophone cabinet ministers or MPs are in this race.
Debate topics:
The Liberal party released the debate topics this past weekend, bundling various key issues into four areas.
The scope of the evening debates will cover “Canada’s place in the world” (including Canada-USA issues and working with allies), growing a strong economy (jobs, economic growth for all Canadians), supporting Canadians (affordability, housing, safe communities, and public health care), and climate action (environmental protection while securing energy).
Members will vote on March 9:
Canadians could sign up to be members of the Liberal Party of Canada up to January 27, 2025.
Nearly 400,000 registered members of the Liberal party signed up by that deadline, and will be eligible to vote in the 2025 Liberal leadership selection process.
So this is about one percent of Canada’s population choosing the next prime minister — at least for a short time, but possibly positioning that person for the next round for a longer stint in the top job.
The Liberals will use a ranked ballot (first, second and third choice). This ends up meaning that a second choice on the ballot might be a strong position if there is no clear winner on the first round and the vote moves to a second round.
As soon as a new Liberal leader is chosen, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will step down, as he announced on January 6.
===== RELATED:
- Liberal leadership debates coming up Feb 24 & 25 (February 22, 2025)
- Liberal leadership race down to four candidates (February 21, 2025)
- Liberal leadership debates in Montreal Feb 24 & 25 (February 18, 2025)
- Liberals will grapple with style vs substance in choosing next leader (January 19, 2025)
- Parliament on pause as Liberals choose new leader (January 6, 2025)
- NEWS SECTIONS: LIBERAL PARTY of CANADA | CANADIAN FEDERAL ELECTION 2025
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