RULES OF THE RACE — The Liberal Party has tightened up leadership contest voter eligibility requirements amid concerns about attempted foreign interference in the race to replace JUSTIN TRUDEAU.
Registered Liberals will only be eligible if they are a Canadian citizen, have status under the Indian Act, or are a permanent resident of Canada. — And they're off: The party's national board of directors met last night to hash out the rules of the condensed leadership race. Various proposals for the voting date and candidate entry fee, all of them unconfirmed, circulated in Hill group chats for several hours. The party posted the final rules, timelines and key players late last night: — Voting day: March 9 — Voting member registration cutoff: Jan. 27 — Deadline to enter: Jan. 23 — Entrance fee: C$350,000 — Leadership vote committee co-chairs: Past president SUZANNE COWAN and Quebec director MARC-ETIENNE VIEN. — Leadership expense committee co-chairs: Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel MP PATRICIA LATTANZIO and JOHN HERHALT, chair of the Federal Liberal Agency. → Next up: Any prospective candidate who was waiting on the rules of the game will now have to jump in — or take a pass. The Globe’s BOB FIFE, MARIEKE WALSH and STEPHANIE LEVITZ report that CHRYSTIA FREELAND and MARK CARNEY are poised to announce. The Star’s ALTHIA RAJ predicts it will be a three-way race that adds CHRISTY CLARK as the dark horse. The Post’s STEPHANIE TAYLOR and CATHERINE LÉVESQUE say Clark is “ready to go.” Giddy up. FIRST CONTACT — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU picked an American interviewer for his first one-on-one sit-down since CHRYSTIA FREELAND's shock resignation last month. Cue Ottawa journalist eye-rolling at the prime minister ducking Canadian interrogators in favor of CNN's JAKE TAPPER, who scored the Thursday afternoon interview while Trudeau was in Washington for former President JIMMY CARTER's funeral. Trudeau does enjoy a convo stateside. He found time last year for the "Freakonomics" podcast and Vox's "Today, Explained." In 2022, Trudeau joined the "Pod Save The World" crew. — Next up: Trudeau also sat down with MSNBC's JEN PSAKI for an interview that will air in full on Sunday. We keep hoping he’ll find time for us sometime soon. Global's MERCEDES STEPHENSON came up with a few good reasons why the PM would be happier with CNN over, say, anybody up north. — Sovereignty check: When asked by Tapper, Trudeau outright dismissed the president-elect's musings about annexing Canada. "Canadians are incredibly proud of being Canadian," he said. "One of the ways we define ourselves most easily is, well, we're not American." Cue furrowed brows at that definition of the Canadian identity. — Why so unpopular? "There are a lot of feelings involved," Trudeau told Tapper, who asked the PM about the plight of progressive parties in Canada and the U.S. (See also: #vibecession.) Trudeau insisted Canada is in a strong economic position as his time at the top nears its end. "We're projected to grow faster than the United States and all other G7 countries next year. Our economy is doing very well," he said. Wait for it… "But when someone's paying $8 for a head of lettuce, it doesn't matter that you're doing better than they are in Spain or somewhere else, there's a sense that, okay, something's got to give," he said. "That's where incumbents are in trouble, everywhere around the world, not just in our two countries." → See also: RISHI SUNAK, EMMANUEL MACRON, OLAF SCHOLZ, JOE BIDEN. | 
