Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, 2013

Liberal leadership election, 2013
Date	no earlier than March 1, 2013 (2013-03-01) nor later than June 30, 2013 (2013-06-30)
Campaign to replace	Michael Ignatieff
Liberal leadership elections 1919 · 1948 · 1958 · 1968 · 1984 · 1990 · 2003 · 2006 · 2009 · 2013

An election for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada was triggered by Michael Ignatieff's announcement on May 3, 2011, of his intention to resign as leader following the party's result in the 2011 federal election. The convention is expected to be held sometime between March 1 and June 30, 2013.

Convention timing

Ignatieff in April 2011

Ignatieff's statement was worded so as not to be an actual resignation to avoid immediately triggering a leadership vote under party rules, but he tendered a letter of resignation to the party's National Board of Directors ("Board") on May 11.^[1][2] Under the provisions of the party's constitution, the Board was required to set a date for a leadership vote to be held within five months thereafter.^[3] However several MPs expressed their reluctance to hold a third leadership election in eight years and instead wanted to take the four years of electoral stability provided by a majority parliament as an opportunity to rebuild under an interim leader for as much as two years before selecting a permanent leader. The Board met as required on May 19 and set the election for October 28 and 29, 2011, but adopted a proposed constitutional amendment allowing this leadership election to be held between March 1 and June 30, 2013, with the exact date to be announced no sooner than five months in advance.^[4] An extraordinary convention of the party adopted the amendment on June 18, 2011.^[5]

Interim leader

Bob Rae in 2007

In the case of a vacancy in the leadership, the Board is required to meet to appoint an interim leader "in consultation" with the parliamentary caucus, i.e., its 34 MPs and 46 senators.^[3] Before this meeting, the Board determined it would not consider anyone unless that person has the support of a majority of MPs and of the caucus as a whole, was bilingual, and promised in writing not to seek the permanent leadership and not to discuss or negotiate significant changes to the party, which would include a merger with the NDP. This was taken as as intended to exclude Bob Rae a potential leadership candidate who had significant support among Liberal senators and had talked about a merger shortly after the general election loss, as well as Ralph Goodale, who is not bilingual, and any other MP who may intend to run in the leadership campaign.^[6][7] Nonetheless, after the caucus discussed the interim leadership on May 11, 2011, it met again on May 25 and voted to to recommend Bob Rae as interim leader over Marc Garneau; the Board subsequently confirmed the appointment.^[8][9][10]

Candidates

Prospective

Name		Riding (MP since)	Bilingual?	Notes
Scott Brison[11]		Kings—Hants, Nova Scotia (1997)	Yes	Liberal Finance Critic (2010–present) 2006 leadership candidate Minister of Public Works(2004–2006)
Denis Coderre[12][13]		Bourassa, Quebec (1997)	Yes	Secretary of State for Amateur Sport (1999–2002) Minister of Immigration (2002–2003) President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada (2003–2004)
Marc Garneau[12][13]		Westmount—Ville-Marie, Quebec (2008)	Yes	Liberal Industry Critic retired astronaut Garneau stood for the position of interim leadership but was passed over in favour of Bob Rae.[14]
Ralph Goodale[15][16]		Wascana, Saskatchewan (1993)	No	Liberal Deputy Leader (2011–present) Finance Minister (2003–2006) Leader of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party (1981–1988) MP for Assiniboia (1974–1979)
Gerard Kennedy[17]		Parkdale—High Park, Ontario (2008-2011)	Yes	Liberal MP for Parkdale—High Park (2008-2011) Official Opposition Environment Critic 2006 leadership candidate Ontario Minister of Education (2003-2006) MPP for Parkdale—High Park and York South (1996-2006) 1995 Ontario Liberal leadership candidate
Dominic LeBlanc[12][13]		Beauséjour, New Brunswick (2000)	Yes	Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic (2011–present) 2009 leadership candidate Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence (2003) Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (2004–2006) Son of former Governor General Roméo LeBlanc
David McGuinty[12][13]		Ottawa South, Ontario (2004)	Yes	Liberal House Leader brother of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and son of former Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Dalton McGuinty Sr.
Borys Wrzesnewskyj[18]		Etobicoke Centre, Ontario (2004–2011)	Yes	Liberal Citizenship & Immigration, Multiculturalism Critic (2008–2009) Defeated in 2011 federal election.

Declined

Name		Riding	Bilingual?	Notes
Dalton McGuinty		N/A	Yes	Premier of Ontario (2003–present) Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party (1996–present) Ontario MPP for Ottawa South (1990–prsent) On November 16, 2011, McGuinty dismissed reports that he may seek the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada, and said he had no interest in entering federal politics.[19]
Bob Rae[8]		Toronto Centre, Ontario	Yes	Former Premier of Ontario (1990–1995) Former leader of the Ontario NDP (1982–1996) Former Ontario MPP for York South (1982–1996) Former MP for Broadview (1978–1979) Former MP for Broadview—Greenwood (1979–1982) MP since 2008 On taking up the post of interim leader, Rae accepted the condition that he not run for the permanent leadership.
Justin Trudeau[20]		Papineau, Quebec	Yes	Liberal Post Secondary Education, Youth and Amateur Sport Critic (2011–present) Son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau

Polling

A survey conducted by Léger Marketing between September 12 and 15, 2011, found that 21% of Liberal supporters backed Montréal MP Justin Trudeau as the next leader. Interim Leader Bob Rae was second with 19%, current Quebec Premier Jean Charest third with 6%, former Toronto MP Gerard Kennedy with 5%, New Brunswick MP Dominic LeBlanc with 4%, and Montréal MP Denis Coderre with 3%.^[21]

See also

• Bloc Québécois leadership election, 2011
• New Democratic Party leadership election, 2012
• Canadian federal election, 2011
• Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, 2009

References

1. ^ Bryden, Joan (May 5, 2011). "Liberals balk at immediate leadership vote; Rae touted as interim leader". Canadian Press. http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5g3iGH2OTszxnf182dljsE3t4Uy_Q?docId=6759132. Retrieved May 7, 2011. 
2. ^ "Statement on Behalf of the National Board of the Liberal Party of Canada". Archived from the original on May 11, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5yc2gQFsc. Retrieved May 11, 2011. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Liberal Party of Canada Constitution, s. 54(3)" (PDF). Liberal Party of Canada. September 19, 2009. p. 32. http://cdn3.liberal.ca/files/2010/05/lpc-2009-constitution-en.pdf. 
4. ^ Robert Hamish Jamieson (May 20, 2011). "Have your say at the Extraordinary Convention". Liberal Party of Canada. http://www.liberal.ca/newsroom/blog/extraordinary-convention/. Retrieved May 21, 2011. 
5. ^ "Federal Liberals won’t pick new leader for full two years". The Globe and Mail. June 19, 2011. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/federal-liberals-wont-pick-new-leader-for-full-two-years/article2066673/. Retrieved June 19, 2011. 
6. ^ "Liberal brass rejigs rules to delay naming Ignatieff’s permanent successor". Globe and Mail. Canada. May 10, 2011. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/liberal-brass-rejigs-rules-to-delay-naming-ignatieffs-permanent-successor/article2017107/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Politics&utm_content=2017107. Retrieved May 10, 2011. 
7. ^ "Liberal brass approve rules that nix Rae, Goodale as interim leader". Canadian Press. May 10, 2011. http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jX5CVR0kuoArVriRjty6dy9MfNzQ?docId=6810276. Retrieved May 10, 2011. 
8. ^ ^{a b} "Liberals choose Rae as interim leader". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. May 25, 2011. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/05/25/pol-liberals-interim-leader.html. Retrieved May 25, 2011. 
9. ^ "Rae takes over the Liberal reins". Toronto Star. May 25, 2011. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/996650--rae-takes-over-the-liberal-reins. Retrieved May 25, 2011. 
10. ^ "Statement to Members: New LPC Interim Leader". Liberal Blog. May 25, 2011. http://www.liberal.ca/newsroom/news-release/statement-lpc-interim-leader/. Retrieved May 25, 2011. 
11. ^ "Scott Brison puts family ahead of Liberal leadership ambition". Globe and Mail. Canada. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/scott-brison-puts-family-ahead-of-liberal-leadership-ambition/article2009666/?from=sec368. 
12. ^ ^{a b c d} Press, Jordan (May 3, 2011). "Filling Ignatieff's leadership shoes: Who will step up to head the Liberal party?". Montreal Gazette. http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/decision-canada/Filling+Ignatieff+leadership+shoes+will+step+head+Liberal+party/4720007/story.html. Retrieved May 4, 2011. 
13. ^ ^{a b c d} "Next up for Liberals: rebuilding". Ottawa Citizen. May 4, 2011. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/decision-canada/Next+Liberals+rebuilding/4721947/story.html. Retrieved May 9, 2011. 
14. ^ "Marc Garneau makes his case for becoming interim Liberal leader", CTV News, Friday May 13, 2011
15. ^ Hall, Angela (May 4, 2011). "Goodale assesses next moves". Regina Leader-Post. http://www.leaderpost.com/news/Goodale+assesses+next+moves/4723474/story.html. Retrieved May 4, 2011. 
16. ^ "Goodale touted as possible successor to Ignatieff". CTV Regina. 3 May 2011. http://saskatoon.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110503/sask-goodale-leadership-110503/20110503/?hub=Saskatoon. Retrieved 11 November 2011. 
17. ^ Radia, Andy (16 November 2011). "Does Dalton McGuinty have his eyes on the federal Liberal leadership?". Yahoo. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/does-dalton-mcguinty-eyes-federal-liberal-leadership-190912248.html. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
18. ^ Little, Matthew (September 28, 2011). "Rogue Liberal Readies Leadership Bid". The Epoch Times. http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/canada/rogue-liberal-readies-leadership-bid-62194.html. Retrieved September 29, 2011. 
19. ^ "McGuinty not interested in federal Liberal leadership". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 16 November 2011. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/11/16/mcguinty-federal-liberals.html. Retrieved 16 November 2011. 
20. ^ "Trudeau rules out Liberal leadership bid in 2013". Waterloo Region Record. http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/608534--trudeau-rules-out-liberal-leadership-bid-in-2013. 
21. ^ http://www.ledevoir.com/politique/canada/331721/sondage-leger-marketing-le-devoir-mulcair-aura-fort-a-faire-au-canada