Liberal MPs urge party to buttress upcoming leadership race against foreign interference
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he won't seek leadership
A growing chorus of Liberal MPs are calling on their party's executive to guard the upcoming leadership race — whose winner will automatically become Canada's next prime minister — from foreign interference.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, who said she's considering a leadership bid, said last year's foreign interference inquiry laid bare that Canadian political parties are vulnerable.
"I think that the Liberal Party of Canada has to deal with that," she said in French ahead of a national caucus meeting Wednesday in the capital.
"It has to find solutions because we're not going to make our democracy more fragile."
The Liberal Party's internal rules are back in the spotlight after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday he'll step down as soon as his party chooses a successor.
The Governor General has also agreed to his request to prorogue Parliament until March 24. That gives the Liberals just over two months to mount a leadership campaign and ready for an all-but-certain spring election.
But the Liberal Party's constitution — mainly that it allows international students and non-Canadian residents to vote in internal party elections — is making some nervous with the spectre of foreign inference hanging over the race.
The Liberals' rules attracted scrutiny at the inquiry led by Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue.
"The eligibility criteria for voting in nomination contests do not seem very stringent, and the control measures in place do not seem very robust," Hogue wrote in her initial report last May.
Her inquiry pointed to "strong indications" that international Chinese students played a role in the 2019 Don Valley North Liberal nomination contest.
Hogue said available intelligence "reflects a well-grounded suspicion that the busing of international students was tied to the [People's Republic of China]."
MP Rob Oliphant, who represents the neighbouring riding of Don Valley West, said it would be his preference that only Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Canada be able to vote in the upcoming leadership race, as is the case for the Conservatives, NDP and Green Party.
"I think we should talk about making sure there's no foreign interference and making sure we have the guidelines and practices in place to make sure that doesn't happen," he said before the caucus meeting.
"I trust the executive to make the right decision."
Liberal Party defends rules
A landmark report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) — one of Canada's key intelligence oversight bodies — also suggested allowing non-citizens to register as party members made those races "a particularly soft target" for adversaries.
The former chair of NSICOP, David McGuinty, recently sworn in as public safety minister, said the committee "came face to face with the troubling intelligence that nomination processes and leadership races are particularly vulnerable to foreign interference."
On Wednesday, McGuinty would only say the Liberal Party will "obviously" look at the issue of foreign interference.
Manitoba MP Kevin Lamoureux said he has confidence the party will ensure election integrity.
However, so far the party seems resistant to those calls.
A party spokesman confirmed this week that the Liberals have no immediate plans to tighten the membership eligibility rules in its constitution.
Parker Lund, the Liberal Party's director of communications, told CBC News on Monday the party "works very hard to engage more people and increase participation in our democratic process through our nominations, open policy development, leadership contests and more.
"This is good for our democracy," he said.
The Liberals' leadership race will likely happen after Hogue's final report is published later this month, which could contain recommendations around party contests.
LeBlanc out, Joly considering
How and when the party will choose its leader isn't yet clear. Neither the rules governing the leadership process nor a date have been announced. Party executives say they are also gathering this week to figure out a way forward.
Trudeau will attend the party's national council meeting on Thursday to discuss how the leadership race should proceed, sources told Radio-Canada.
The sources, who spoke on condition they not be named since they weren't authorized to speak publicly, said the prime minister will be there as an executive member and won't try to dictate how the party runs the race. But they added that doesn't prevent him from sharing his opinions.
The sources said they expect the prime minister will be neutral during the campaign and not endorse a candidate.
Earlier Wednesday, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, whose name has been circulating as a potential leadership contender, announced he will not be seeking the job.
In a statement, the New Brunswick MP said he is touched by support he received but said Canada is at "a critical juncture in its relationship" with the U.S., and said he believes he can better serve the country by working to stop president-elect Donald Trump from imposing steep tariffs on Canadian goods.
"The threat these tariffs pose to our nation's economic well-being and to the livelihood of a countless number of Canadian families cannot be understated — and as such, it requires nothing less than my full attention," the minister said.
Trump has ratcheted up his rhetoric, threatening Tuesday to use "economic force" to make Canada the 51st state.
Other potential names for leadership consideration are already coming out of the woodwork.
Cabinet colleagues Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson have told CBC News they're considering a bid. On Wednesday, Joly said she's reflecting on a leadership run.
Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney has also said he is mulling a campaign.
Sources said former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, whose abrupt resignation last month likely hastened Trudeau's decision, has been making calls.
Some Liberals already naming preferred candidates
While no one has officially launched a campaign, some MPs are already lining up behind candidates at least informally.
Toronto-Danforth MP Julie Dabrusin said she thinks Freeland "would be an amazing candidate."
"I think that she's shown that she has experience in negotiating with the United States in tough times; she's been really good with working with our provinces," she said before the Ontario caucus meeting Tuesday night.
Ottawa-area MP Anita Vandenbeld said she'd be interested in an outside candidate like Christy Clark. The former premier of British Columbia has expressed an interest in wanting "to be part of the conversation on the future direction of the Liberal Party."
"I think we need someone who can really bring new people in," she said.
Whoever takes over the Liberal leadership will get the title of prime minister, although it could be a very short tenure.
Trudeau's Liberals have been trailing the Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives by more than 20 points in the polls for more than a year.
The opposition parties have been clear they plan to vote non-confidence in the government at their first opportunity, triggering an election.
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With files from Evan Dyer