How will replacing Trudeau work? Breaking down a Liberal leadership contest
Parliament is prorogued until March 24, buying the Liberals time to find a new leader
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday morning that he plans to step down once his party picks a successor.
Now, the Liberal leadership race is on as opposition parties vow to take down the government through a non-confidence vote at the earliest opportunity.
Trudeau told reporters outside his Rideau Cottage residence in Ottawa on Monday that he'll remain Liberal leader and prime minister until his replacement is chosen by a "competitive" national leadership contest.
He also said Parliament has been prorogued until March 24, meaning MPs won't meet again in the House of Commons for more than two months.
So how do Liberal leadership contests work, and is there a way to expedite electing a new party leader? Let's break down the process to replace Trudeau.
The first steps
According to the Liberal Party's constitution, the party's president — currently Sachit Mehra — must call a meeting of the national board of directors to be held within 27 days of a leader announcing their intention to resign.
On Monday morning, Mehra confirmed in a statement that he will call a meeting "to be held this week to begin the nationwide democratic process of selecting a new leader of the party."
The board is empowered to appoint an interim leader in consultation with the Liberal caucus, but the outgoing leader can also choose to remain in the job until a new leader is chosen by a leadership vote, which is Trudeau's plan.
There's precedent here. Former Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien announced he would not run for re-election in August 2002, but stayed on as prime minister for another 18 months until he officially resigned in December 2003 and was immediately replaced by Paul Martin.
The Liberal Party's constitution doesn't specify how long a leadership contest should be but the national board has flexibility depending on "political circumstances," and can "review and alter any arrangements already made for the leadership vote."
Who's eligible to run for leadership?
Liberal leadership candidates must meet several criteria. The most fundamental requirements are that candidates must be registered Liberals and can run for office in a general federal election.
According to the party constitution, candidates must also deliver a written nomination to the Liberal Party's president at least 90 days before the leadership vote. In their written nomination, candidates must have 300 signatures from registered Liberals, including at least 100 registered Liberals from each of three provinces or territories.
To register with the Liberals, a person must be at least 14 years old, support the purposes of the Liberal Party and live in Canada or be qualified to vote from abroad. They can't be a member of any other federal political party.
In order to vote in a leadership race, someone needs to be a registered Liberal for 41 days "immediately preceding the day of the leadership vote," according to the Liberal Party's constitution.
Nobody has officially thrown their hat into the ring to replace Trudeau, but several names in the Liberal caucus and beyond have been circulating for months.
They include former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, current Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, former B.C. premier Christy Clark and former Liberal MP Frank Baylis.
Can a leadership contest be sped up?
Some Liberals have been exploring how the party can hold an expedited race, citing a possible early election and the uncertainty surrounding U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's administration — which may level a punishing tariff on Canadian goods.
Prorogation buys the Liberal Party time and staves off opposition parties toppling the government before March 24, but it's a tight timeline for a national contest. The party has 11 weeks before prorogation ends and MPs return to the House of Commons.
Sophie Chatel, a Liberal MP from Quebec, said in an email obtained by CBC News in late December there's precedent for a condensed leadership race. She highlighted how the Liberals held a party convention 98 days after John Turner resigned in 1990.
In her email, Chatel said the party's national board could require leadership declarations within days rather than weeks.
"Candidates would engage members through debates, virtual events and focused messaging, avoiding the need for a prolonged campaign tour," Chatel wrote in her email to other Liberal MPs.
Liberal leaders have previously been chosen by in-person votes at a convention.
In her email, Chatel proposed voting be done electronically, which she said enables Liberal members, no matter where they live, to "vote efficiently while preserving the democratic integrity of the process."
"By leveraging these tools, the party could complete the entire leadership process within 91 days, ensuring a new leader is in place ahead of the next election," Chatel wrote.
How does voting work?
The Liberal Party's constitution states that each electoral district is allocated 100 points, which in total creates a "national count" that determines who wins the contest.
Voters can rank their preferred candidates. Candidates receive district points based on a ratio of how many voters choose them as their first pick against the total number of valid ballots cast in the district.
The district points across the country are then totalled up for each candidate. The first contender to receive more than 50 per cent of the points on any national count is selected as the Liberal Party leader.
If nobody gets more than 50 per cent on the first count, the candidate with the fewest number of points is eliminated and their ballots are distributed among the remaining contenders, according to whom voters chose as their second preference.
This elimination process continues until a candidate meets the target of 50 per cent plus one.
In 2013, Trudeau won his leadership contest in a landslide and got 80 per cent support on the first ballot. His main opponents were Liberal MP Joyce Murray and former Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
