20/01/2025
Share:
20/01/2025
Share:
Canada's former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks at a press conference in Toronto on Jan 19 as she kicks off her campaign to become the next Liberal party leader. (AP)
TORONTO, Jan 20, (AP): Pro-Palestinian protesters and a significant endorsement of her rival for the Liberal Party leadership marred former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s campaign launch on Sunday for the job of Canada’s next prime minister. It was Freeland’s abrupt resignation as finance minister last month that forced Justin Trudeau’s exit as prime minister and party leader. Freeland is now running for both the next leader of the Liberal Party and prime minister of Canada.
But as Freeland started her speech at a children’s club in Toronto on Sunday, about a dozen protesters who were in the audience would start yelling.
After security guards kicked each protester out, another would repeat the process. Those outside banged on the doors and kept shouting. The disruptions stretched Freeland’s speech to about two hours.
“I am not afraid and I’m not going to back down,” Freeland said. “Canadians are just not going to put up with it. You can have a different point of view but you cannot stop others from speaking and you cannot stop our democracy.” Just before Freeland took the stage, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly released a statement on X, saying she was endorsing former central banker Mark Carney to be the next Liberal leader and prime minister.
Trudeau is to remain prime minister until a new Liberal Party leader is chosen on March 9. Joly said she believes Carney is best positioned to defeat opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre in the coming general election, and is the best candidate to deal with President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Canada.
