HOLDING COURT — It felt unprecedented. Cabinet ministers lined up in the hallway outside their national caucus room Wednesday, waiting for TV cameras to turn on so they could take questions from journalists.
Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE joined the queue. Any minister vying for Liberal leadership will need to introduce themselves to Canadians. They won't have much time. They're only days away from launching campaigns. Some are waiting for official race rules before making a final call. Others are considering a much simpler calculation based on electoral math. Liberals appear headed for decimation in the next election. Who really wants to lead a party to defeat? — Vibe shift: With Trudeau’s resignation, a weight seems to have lifted off the Liberal caucus. MPs appeared more relaxed, jovial — and way chattier. The caucus appears to have moved on from Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU, with many MPs focusing instead on the next few months. Few used a national media platform to thank the PM for his service. “We’re always politicking,” said Liberal MP MARCUS POWLOWSKI, when Playbook asked how many colleagues were scheming about preferred candidates behind closed doors in a meeting that lasted almost five hours. Liberal Party President SACHIT MEHRA and National Director AZAM ISHMAEL were in the room. When the doors did briefly open, journalists caught a glimpse of the inside: MPs hived off into groups, chatting away out of earshot from the press pack. Other MPs were whispering with each other in halls, or ducking into meeting rooms nearby. — Journalists’ white whale: Former deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND, who didn't indulge reporters hounding her for a quote. — Notable timestamp: The PM was in the meeting for just 48 minutes before he left for a Flight PS752 commemoration event in Richmond Hill, Ontario. — Shots fired: Employment Minister STEVEN MACKINNON, who’s considering a leadership bid, took a subtle shot at another leadership hopeful, former B.C. Premier CHRISTY CLARK, by saying the next leader needs to be fluent in French. The jury is out on just how much Clark has improved her second-language fluency. Some ministers clarified their intentions Wednesday. — Who’s out: Finance Minister DOMINIC LEBLANC is remaining focused on Canada-U.S. relations, a move several political observers have described as putting country over personal ambition. Some MPs, including CHARLES SOUSA and MARK GERRETSEN, want him to reconsider. Immigration Minister MARC MILLER, Health Minister MARK HOLLAND, Procurement Minister JEAN-YVES DUCLOS and Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT all ruled out bids. — Who’s considering a run? → Champagne: “We need an ambitious Canada. We need a confident Canada. We need to present a vision of a country that can win in the 21st century, an economic vision, a vision of hope. And certainly that’s something that I’ve been thinking about for a long time.” → MacKinnon: “It's important that we have a candidate who understands the whole country, who values all the regions of Canada and who is able to communicate their ideas in every region of Canada. I think it's very important right now and in the future that we be listening much more than speaking.” → Foreign Affairs Minister MÉLANIE JOLY, who is considering her decision's impact on the government's Canada-U.S. work. “We have to be extremely ready because the threat of tariffs is real.” → Energy Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON, and former Bank of Canada Governor MARK CARNEY. — Rumored to run, but staying quiet: Freeland, Clark, Transport Minister ANITA ANAND and Government House Leader KARINA GOULD. FINAL COUNTDOWN — Don't expect the swirling uncertainty around the rules and timelines for a hasty Liberal leadership race to linger much longer. CBC News reports the party's national board of directors will meet tonight to hash it out. Radio-Canada sources said the prime minister will be in the room. The party constitution tasks the board with establishing two committees to oversee a contest expected to wrap in time for the return of Parliament in March. — Money matters: The leadership expenses committee sets the entry fee and candidate spending limits, as well as procedures to enforce those rules. In 2013, candidates paid a C$75,000 entry fee and faced a spending limit of C$950,000. They were not allowed to accumulate more than C$75,000 in debt. — Voting rules: The leadership vote committee organizes and carries out the vote, including registration procedures and timelines. → A question on our minds: Will the party organize one or more debates? — The people: Both committees require two co-chairs: one man and one woman, one fluent in English and one fluent in French. A pair of MPs also sit on both, alongside at least two board members. The committees can also tap additional board members, with an eye to gender parity and respect for both official languages. → The buffet of options: Scroll through the list of national board members. The party treasurer, JAYSON KWASNIK, sits on the expenses committee. Party president SACHIT MEHRA sits on the vote committee. — The party line: Liberal spokesperson PARKER LUND held his cards close to his chest on Wednesday. The national board is "having formal and informal meetings all this week to discuss the next steps of a leadership race," he said in a statement. "As you would expect, the establishment of the rules for the upcoming leadership race will take some time. We will be in touch when there is more to share." — Foreign interference: The B.C. caucus raised concerns Wednesday about attempted foreign interference into the contest. As it stands, any registered Liberal who is at least 14 years of age and "ordinarily resides in Canada" can cast a vote as long as they signed up 41 days before the leadership vote. The Hogue Commission into foreign interference has raised some concern about vulnerabilities in party processes, as has the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians. Still, the party isn't budging on its rules. "Our open and inclusive process ensures we hear from more people in the communities we engage with and helps foster civic engagement with those who may one day have the privilege to vote in a federal election," Lund wrote. | 
