When Indo-Canadian Mehra conducts poll for Trudeau successor, Anand may emerge as compromise candidate

When Liberal Party President Sachit Mehra conducts the election for the successor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, another Indo-Canadian may emerge as the compromise candidate to lead the nation.

As he announced his decision to step down, Trudeau did not name a successor but said he was entrusting Mehra with a “robust, nationwide competitive process” to elect the next leader.

Unlike in India, where the ruling party’s members of the Lower House of Parliament elect the Prime Minister, the Liberal Party rules allow anyone who registers as a party member to participate in the election.

The membership, upwards of 300,000, is also open to non-citizens, including international students, all of whom could participate in the election, and the age of eligibility is only 14.

The winner has to secure at least 50 per cent of the votes, and several voting rounds may be required before a candidate crosses the threshold.

Mehra has said that he will convene a meeting of the party’s board this week to set the election date and appoint a committee to run it.

The rules require a 90-day campaign, but the leadership can shorten it, and there may be a push to conclude the election before March 24, when parliament is set to meet again.

No one has yet formally announced their candidacy for the party’s leadership.

Whoever becomes the Prime Minister will have a short tenure, as the Liberal Party has only 153 members in the 338-member House of Commons, short of the 170 needed for a majority. It has been surviving with the support of the New Democratic Party, whose leader Jagmeet Singh has withdrawn backing for it.

Opposition parties have stated they would move a vote of no-confidence when parliament reconvenes in March.

In an election – whether in October under the deadline or earlier – the opposition Conservative Party has a significant lead in the polls.

An Ipsos poll showed the Conservatives leading with 45 per cent support, a 25 per cent margin over the Liberals, who had 20 per cent last month.

Likely front-runners in the race to succeed Trudeau are Chrystia Freeland, who was forced out by him when he removed her from her finance portfolio; Trudeau’s close friend Dominic LeBlanc, who was appointed to replace Freeland; Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, who led the diplomatic charge against India; and economist and banker Mark Carney, who has the unique distinction of having served as the governor of both the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada.

Against this roster of big-name front-runners with their established bases, Transport Minister Anand has emerged as a candidate who could bridge the factions and become the winner, working her way through voting rounds to the 50 per cent mark.

Anand was appointed the public services and procurement minister in 2019 and quickly made her mark during the COVID-19 pandemic with an aggressive strategy to meet the country’s needs for medical equipment and vaccines, including from India.

After the 2021 election, she became the defence minister, with one of her first tasks being to address sexual harassment and discrimination in the armed forces.

She led Canada’s efforts to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, providing both material support and training.

Anand was later moved to the cabinet post of President of the Treasury Board, overseeing government operations broadly.

Last year, she became the transport minister and added the internal trade portfolio.

Her father is from Tamil Nadu, and her mother is from Punjab, both doctors who worked in Nova Scotia Province, where she was born.

Anand, 57, is a lawyer trained at Oxford and Dalhousie University in Canada.

New Delhi-born Mehra grew up in Winnipeg, where he became a businessman involved in running the family’s restaurant company.

In 2023, he was elected the party’s President, a role focused on organisational matters, distinct from that of the party leader who automatically heads the party in parliament and becomes the Prime Minister or leader of the opposition.

He was charged with developing the strategy for the election this year amid the party’s diminishing prospects.

Of the leading candidates, Joly has a history of overt hostility towards India, having expelled Indian diplomats from Canada.