Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc insists he鈥檚 not planning a leadership campaign to head the Liberal party, should current leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resign, seemingly quashing rumours he鈥檚 planning to make a move for his boss鈥� job.
LeBlanc 鈥� who serves as the minister of public safety, democratic institutions, and intergovernmental affairs 鈥� told CTV鈥檚 Questions Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday that Trudeau should 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� remain as Liberal leader in the next election.
鈥淚 think he's the best person to lead the party into the next election,鈥� he said.
The questions came after the Globe and Mail published a column last month, reporting that a former Liberal cabinet minister met with LeBlanc to discuss plans for him to run to succeed Trudeau if he was to step down as party leader.
The column also reported that "over whisky and cigars," an "eager" LeBlanc agreed to be part of a group to lay the foundations for a campaign.
鈥淚 had a conversation with an old friend at some friend鈥檚 house,鈥� LeBlanc told Kapelos. 鈥淚'm not organizing a leadership campaign in any way, I'm looking forward to running in the next election.鈥�
鈥淭he prime minister has said he's going to be leading the party in the next election,鈥� he added. 鈥淚'm very excited about that.鈥�
LeBlanc also said he 鈥渢ook that retired person鈥檚 positive comment in jest,鈥� referring to the 鈥渇riend鈥� who suggested he run for the leadership.
LeBlanc isn鈥檛 the only well-known Liberal who鈥檚 been rumoured to be after Trudeau鈥檚 job. Political watchers have long speculated that former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney has his eyes on it as well.
Despite having dismissed those questions, a pair of public appearances by Carney last week 鈥� delivered shortly after the federal government released its latest budget 鈥� reignited the leadership run rumours.
With files from CTVNews.ca鈥檚 Senior Digital Parliamentary Reporter Rachel Aiello
