Freeland said Friday in a statement posted on X that she will officially launch her campaign on Sunday.
She also released an opinion piece in which she called for economic retaliation if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his threat to impose tariffs on all Canadian products.
Freeland announced her resignation from Trudeau’s Cabinet on Dec. 16, criticizing some of Trudeau’s economic priorities in the face of Trump’s tariff threats. The move stunned the country and raised questions about how much longer the increasingly unpopular Trudeau could stay in his job.
Trudeau announced on Jan. 6 that he would resign, though he will remain prime minister until a new Liberal Party leader is chosen on March 9.
The next Liberal leader could be the shortest-tenured prime minister in the country’s history. All three opposition parties have vowed to bring down the Liberals’ minority government in a no-confidence vote after parliament resumes on March 24. An election is expected this spring.
Recent polls suggest the Liberals’ chances of winning the next election look slim. In the latest poll by Nanos Research, the Liberals trail the opposition Conservatives 47% to 20%.
Freeland and Trudeau had disagreed about two recently announced policies: a temporary sales tax holiday on goods ranging from children’s clothes to beer, and plans to send every citizen a check for $250 Canadian dollars ($174.) Freeland, who was also deputy prime minister, said Canada could not afford “costly political gimmicks.”
But Freeland herself has been criticized for Canada’s growing deficits and she was finance minister when the Liberal government became deeply unpopular with voters over a range of issues, including the soaring cost of food and housing as well as surging immigration.
