Transport Minister Anita Anand introduced Saturday afternoon she is not going to run within the Liberal Occasion’s ongoing management contest to switch Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, nor will she search re-election when Canadians subsequent go to the polls.
Anand stated in an announcement posted to social media she has been “deeply honoured and humbled to function Oakville’s Member of Parliament and as member of cupboard.”
“In these roles, I’ve given all I’ve to maintain Canada protected, sturdy, and free,” Anand stated. “I entered public life as a result of I wished to make a significant contribution to my group and nation, a purpose instilled in me by my dad and mom, who immigrated to Canada earlier than I used to be born.”
Anand additionally stated she is going to proceed to “execute my roles as a public workplace holder till the following election.”
The Oakville, Ont., MP has held a number of cupboard portfolios since she was elected in 2019. Anand was first minister of public companies and procurement, then grew to become the second woman ever to function minister of nationwide defence.
In one among her first acts as minister of defence, Anand transferred the investigation and prosecution of sexual misconduct circumstances throughout the Canadian forces into the civilian justice system — a transfer that got here because the navy reeled from a number of sexual misconduct investigations.
Anand was shuffled into a brand new place in 2023 and have become president of the Treasury Board — a transfer she argued was not a demotion as a result of she would have a central position in reining within the federal authorities’s spending.
She at present serves in two positions as minister of transport and inside commerce. Anand obtained the latter portfolio after Trudeau shuffled his cupboard on the finish of December.
In her assertion, Anand stated whereas her time in public workplace “has been difficult, it has been tremendously fulfilling to ship outcomes for Canadians by working collaboratively.”
“I sincerely thank Prime Minister Trudeau for welcoming me on the Liberal workforce as a Member of Parliament and for entrusting me with key cupboard portfolios,” Anand stated.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau embraces Anand throughout a cupboard swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Corridor, in Ottawa in October 2021. Anand grew to become the second woman ever to function minister of nationwide defence. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
The management contenders up to now
Anand is the newest Liberal cupboard minister to substantiate she will not be working to switch Trudeau as chief of the occasion. On Friday, International Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly confirmed she would additionally not run within the management contest.
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc has confirmed he will not run within the contest both — regardless of some Liberals’ makes an attempt to get him to rethink the choice.
The one confirmed candidates to date are former Liberal MP Frank Baylis and present Liberal MP Chandra Arya, who introduced his candidacy on Thursday.
However different anticipated heavy hitters are nonetheless within the combine, together with former Financial institution of Canada governor Mark Carney. He is anticipated to formally announce his bid to switch Trudeau late subsequent week, a supply near his marketing campaign informed Ontario Chronicle.
WATCH | Joly says she will not run for Liberal management: 
Joly says she’s not working for Liberal management
International Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly stated that, whereas she is able to lead the Liberal Occasion, she will not be getting into the race to switch Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, citing the calls for of her present position.
The supply, who spoke on the situation they not be named as a result of they weren’t approved to talk publicly, stated Carney has greater than 30 MPs backing him. The supply steered he picked up assist after LeBlanc closed the door on management earlier this week.
One in every of Carney’s chief opponents is anticipated to be former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, who has not but formally introduced she’ll run.
Numerous cupboard insiders — together with Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Pure Assets Minister Jonathan Wilkinson and Employment Minister Steven MacKinnon — have stated they’re contemplating working for the highest job.
Home Chief Karina Gould can also be stated to be gathering supporters for a marketing campaign.
Former B.C. premier Christy Clark informed CBC Radio’s The Home she is “critically interested by” working to switch Trudeau and would finish one among his key environmental insurance policies, the carbon tax, if she is profitable in successful the management.
LISTEN | Christy Clark talks potential management bid:
The House15:02Christy Clark mulls Liberal management run
Because the race to switch Justin Trudeau will get underway, former B.C. premier Christy Clark joins Catherine Cullen to debate why she’s contemplating launching a management bid, and the way Canada ought to deal with incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.
