Marc Garneau (far right) speaks to students during his visit to MGCI on 7 March. Photo: Jackie Ho
On Wednesday morning, the school’s eponym Dr. Marc Garneau announced on Parliament Hill that he is abandoning his bid for the federal Liberal leadership.
The withdrawal follows Marc Garneau’s visit to MGCI last Thursday 7 March, in which he promoted his campaign to numerous media outlets.
Marc Garneau, Canada’s first astronaut, was first elected to Parliament in 2008; he entered the race for the leader of the federal Liberals last November.
His withdrawal indicates that the next Liberal leader will likely be Justin Trudeau: son of the famous Canadian Prime Minister the late Pierre Trudeau.
The rivalry between Garneau and Trudeau has been heated in the past few weeks. Garneau has criticized Trudeau’s lack of experience and publicly challenged Trudeau to a one-on-one debate: a proposal that Trudeau declined.
The new list of candidates for the Liberal leadership, listed alphabetically by surname, is as follows:
- David Bertschi, a lawyer in Ottawa
- Martin Cauchon, a lawyer in Quebec and former Cabinet minister under Jean Chrétien
- Deborah Coyne, a Constitutional lawyer in Toronto and the late Pierre Trudeau’s former girlfriend
- Martha Hall Findlay, former MP for Willowdale
- Karen McCrimmon, a retired Canadian Forces Lieutenant Colonel
- Joyce Murray, the MP for Vancouver Quadra since 2008
- Justin Trudeau, MP for Papineau since 2008 and son of the late Pierre Trudeau
The new leader of the Liberal party will be decided on 14 April.
