Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne announced today that he will not seek the Prime Minister’s office.
François-Philippe Champagne
“You don’t take lightly the opportunity to lead a country like Canada.”
With the Liberal leadership contest taking shape, eyes were on Champagne to confirm his intentions during a fireside chat with Taking Stock’s Amanda Lang at Toronto’s Canadian Club Tuesday, Jan. 14. As Champagne detailed his recent conversations with incoming President Donald Trump and called Canada “the land of opportunity of the 21st century,” Lang prodded him to reveal what he thought of potentially becoming Prime Minister.
Champagne responded that he will not join the race for Liberal leadership.
“I will dedicate my energy to defend Canada, to defend Canadians, and to defend Canadian businesses,” Champagne said. “It was probably one of the most difficult decisions in my life, but I think it’s the right one at the right time.”
When Lang asked if he would run in the upcoming election. Champagne laughed and replied, “Can I take this one decision at a time? This is already a big day.”
“You don’t take lightly the opportunity to lead a country like Canada,” he added.
So far, Liberal leadership hopefuls include former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney (fresh off an appearance on The Daily Show), House leader Karina Gould, Baylis Medical Technologies chairperson Frank Baylis, and MPs Jaime Battiste and Chandra Arya. All of the aforementioned candidates have either announced, or are expected to announce, that they will enter the race.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kicked off the Liberal leadership race last week when he announced he was proroguing parliament with the intention to resign from his position when a new Liberal leader had been selected. With NDP leader Jagmeet Singh having announced his intention to file a non-confidence motion when the House of Commons sits again, an election is expected to happen in the spring.
Trudeau faced mounting pressure from both internal and external pressures around his viability as Prime Minister, which came to a head when Freeland resigned from her position just hours before she was scheduled to deliver the Fall Economic Statement in December.
With a prorogued Parliament, the Liberals in leadership limbo, and a likely early election, many of the government’s innovation policy commitments are in doubt. These include open banking reforms, procurement changes, an IP patent box for the SR&ED program, the Online Harms Act, the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA), and the 2024 budget’s capital gains tax rate changes that struck a nerve with innovation leaders.
Champagne has served as Innovation Minister since 2021, taking over from Navdeep Bains, and remained in the position following the most recent cabinet shuffle spurred by Freeland’s exit. So far, no current cabinet member has signalled an intention to become Liberal leader.
Feature image courtesy Canadian Club.