Freeland perfect fit for Liberal leader, two Winnipeg MPs say

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This article was published 15/01/2025 (266 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Liberal MPs Ben Carr and Kevin Lamoureux say former finance minister Chrystia Freeland is the best person to lead their ailing party.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his pending resignation and prorogued Parliament last week after months of party dissent and public calls for him to step down.

Freeland is expected to make her leadership bid official this week.

“I will be very disappointed if she does not run,” Lamoureux, who represents Winnipeg North, told the Free Press. “I think she’s an incredible individual that really has a true understanding of Canada’s middle class.”

Lamoureux, who publicly endorsed Freeland in a social media post Wednesday, said he has got to know her over the last decade and “loves her style of politics.”

He described her as a hardworking, intelligent and skilled parliamentarian.

“Through Chrystia Freeland, I believe that we can actually be an agent of change that Canadians want to see going into the next election so they don’t have to vote for the Conservative party.”

Carr echoed those thoughts.

“It remains clear to me, and others, that our new leader must be able to present a vision for Canada that contrasts that of (Conservative party leader) Pierre Poilievre and who will not back down from a fight,” he said in a statement published online.

“I have concluded that Chrystia Freeland is the best person to take on this fight.”

Carr said he spoke at length with Freeland, his colleagues, non-partisans and his Winnipeg South Centre constituents before coming to his decision.

Freeland’s decision to quit as finance minister helped cement the choice, he said in an interview.

“There is no denying that consequential decision she made in December demonstrated to me that she is an individual that is principled, and who is always willing to put the country first,” Carr said.

“She has the vision, tenacity and balanced policy mind that is required for us at this time.”

Freeland announced her resignation Dec. 16, just before she was to deliver a fiscal statement that showed the government was running a $62-billion deficit, 50 per cent higher than forecast.

In a letter addressed to Trudeau, Freeland said she and the prime minister were at odds about how to handle the economy.

Carr said he believes she will provide a change of direction for the Liberal party, he said.

Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England is expected to join the race Thursday. House leader Karina Gould, who was first elected in 2015, is also in line for the contest.

Three people have formally declared their candidacies: Ottawa MP Chandra Arya, former MP Frank Baylis and Nova Scotia MP Jaime Battiste.

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Manitoba’s other Liberal MPs, Dan Vandal and Terry Duguid, have not publicly endorsed a leadership candidate.

“I was appointed as co-chair of the National Liberal Campaign just over a year ago, and this is a role I take very seriously as I continue to recruit candidates for the next election. This position requires me to remain neutral, and as such I must refrain from supporting any candidate at this time,” Duguid said in an email statement.

The Liberal party will select a new leader on March 9. Candidates have until Jan. 23 to declare their intention to run.

—With files from The Canadian Press

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

Tyler Searle
Reporter

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.

Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.