Federal Liberal leadership candidates gearing up for two debates in Montreal this week

Montreal will be the backdrop for two debates in the federal Liberal leadership race taking place on Monday and Tuesday.

A little under two weeks before party members select the next leader to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Four candidates are confirmed and will participate in a French and English debate.

“Having a debate is really the only way for people to kind of compare their opinions and their beliefs on their platforms for everybody to see,” said Michael Vlessides, who is visiting Montreal from Canmore, Alberta. “Picking the right leader is more important than ever.”

In the running: former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, former Liberal House leader Karina Gould, and former MP Frank Baylis. They have each paid their entry fee of $350,000.

Former MP Ruby Dhalla was supposed to be a fifth candidate, however, on Friday the Liberal Leadership Vote Committee unanimously made the decision to disqualify her from the race.

“After a thorough investigation, the Leadership Vote Committee and the Leadership Expense Committee, sitting jointly, unanimously determined that Dr. Dhalla was in breach of 10 violations of the National Leadership Rules, Leadership Vote Rules, and the Leadership Expense Rules. The violations include concerns about alleged violations of the Canada Elections Act, certain other election finance matters, non-disclosure of material facts, and inaccurate financial reporting,” read a statement from Azam Ishmael, Liberal Party of Canada National Director.

“The Leadership Vote Committee determined that the violations were extremely serious, accepted the recommendation of the Chief Electoral Officer and disqualified Dr. Dhalla under section 8(i) of the National Leadership Rules.”

Current and former Liberal party officials have said the next Liberal leader should be bilingual.

“In the French debate, really, it’s a chance for a lot of these people to get known. If you’re the leader of the party, you’ll probably get invited to to Tout le monde en parle, then everyone in Quebec will get to know about you,” said political analyst, Karim Boulos.

“But until you’re the leader, when you’re still fighting for that position, you need every opportunity and every chance to speak publicly and try to appeal to as many people as you can.”

“The Liberals right now have Montreal, if you will, western part of Montreal, in relatively good shape only because that’s always been their stronghold. But they need to expand more and ensure that the Bloc-Québécois doesn’t take over the rest of the province,” said Boulos.

Nearly 400,000 supporters registered as members to vote in the leadership race, including newly registered member, Montrealer Graham Wright.

“I want it to be for this particular election. I think it’s so important,” said Graham Wright, a registered Liberal Party of Canada member.

Pat Donnelly, another registered Liberal Party of Canada member said, “Canada is on the brink and it’s very important who the Liberal Party chooses as a leader.”

Vlessides adds, “In a time like this, with these unprecedented tensions with the US, at least during my lifetime, that you want somebody who is going to be firm and strong and would be able to rally international support on behalf of Canada, because it feels like that’s what’s been lacking so far.”

Party members are set to choose a new leader on March 9, after they take the stage at the debates.

“Many of the liberal members, those who are members of the party, may not have met any of these candidates, Boulos said. “So this is a chance for them to see who it is they’re voting for.

“At the same time, who can give Pierre Poilievre a run for his money? Who’s going to be a real contender for the position of prime minister?” Boulos added. “I think that it’s going to be a time for people to try to show put their best foot forward to try to impress upon the membership that they are the right ones to lead them into the future.”

Wright adds, “I just hope everything goes well and my favourite person gets in.”