Former Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland intends to run to lead the country's Liberal Party.

In a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday, Freeland said she would hold a formal campaign launch in the coming days, but expressed her intention to run.

"I'm running to fight for Canada," she wrote.

Freeland recently fell out with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the direction of the country's financial policies. Her resignation from her post in December was a blow to Trudeau's already-shaky hold on the Canadian government, helping to usher in his own resignation after nine years as prime minister.

Freeland had long been one of Trudeau's closest allies in his Liberal Party. She held the key role of Canada's finance minister starting in 2020 - the first woman to hold the position - and helped to lead the country through the pandemic and its aftermath.

The two disagreed on how to address US President-elect Donald Trump's threat of tariffs, among other financial policies as Canada faced a C$60b deficit ($42bn; £33bn) this autumn.

In a public resignation letter, Freeland criticised Trudeau's leadership, denounced his use of "costly political gimmicks" and said Canada must push "back against 'America First' economic nationalism".

With Trudeau stepping down, his party must now find a new leader to compete in a general election. Liberals will vote for their new leader on 9 March.

Former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney announced his run earlier this week. Freeland had been expected to run against him in seeking the party's top position.

Born to a Ukrainian mother in the western province of Alberta, the 56-year-old was a journalist before entering politics.

She entered the House of Commons in 2013 and two years later joined Trudeau's cabinet with a trade brief after he swept the party to power.

Source:
courtesy of BBC NEWS

by Laura Blasey

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