Canadians Deserve Transparency in Leadership Elections
Jafar Bhamji
3-26-2025
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Canadians have a right to know how a political party selects its leader, especially when that leader will hold the highest elected office in the country—the Prime Minister’s Office.
On Sunday, March 9, 2025, Mark Carney was declared the winner of the Liberal Party’s leadership race. The virtual voting process began on February 25 and spanned two weeks. Throughout the process, many Liberal members voiced frustrations with the party’s electronic voter ID verification system. Despite these concerns, party spokesperson Parker Lund insisted that the system functioned as intended to ensure a secure vote.
However, one striking detail remains: while the Liberal Party boasted in January of registering nearly 400,000 members, only 38 percent of them made it through the verification process and participated in the leadership election. This low turnout ultimately led to Mark Carney being declared the new leader of the Liberal Party and, by extension, Canada’s next Prime Minister.
According to the party, 163,836 people successfully completed the authentication process. Of those, 151,899 voted—representing 93 percent of those verified. Mark Carney secured 131,674 of these votes. Despite these figures, the party has yet to explain why over half of the registered Liberals did not make it through the verification process. The authentication method, managed by Canada Post, remains under scrutiny for its lack of transparency. Furthermore, the party has not disclosed how many applicants were disqualified for failing to meet eligibility requirements or provided a breakdown of how many members each leadership campaign signed up.
The issue of low participation is not new. In the Liberal Party’s 2013 leadership race, approximately 300,000 individuals registered, but only 130,774 were successfully verified to vote, with 104,552 casting ballots.
Dalhousie University political science professor Lori Turnbull expressed concern about these numbers, stating that such fluctuations can create significant problems due to the fluid nature of party membership. "That strikes me as a very low number," she said, referring to the proportion of verified voters. She highlighted that many people sign up at the last minute during leadership races, often without a lasting commitment to the party. "Now the approach to party membership is very transactional, and in the case of the Liberals, they don’t even charge a fee."
By comparison, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre won his party’s leadership in 2022 with 295,283 votes—70.7 percent of the 417,635 ballots cast. The Conservative Party reported having 675,000 eligible voters, translating to a 62 percent turnout. Poilievre’s campaign also demonstrated robust grassroots engagement, with 80 events across the country attracting 93,000 RSVPs and resulting in over 300,000 new members.
Mark Carney, despite never having held elected office, entered the Liberal leadership race as a frontrunner. He received the most endorsements from the Liberal caucus and significantly outpaced his competitors in fundraising. His campaign raised over $5 million during the two-month race—$3 million more than his rivals—primarily from small donations under $100. This financial advantage, combined with strong elite backing, secured his path to victory.
Interestingly, Carney’s strongest support came from Canada’s wealthiest and most elite constituencies. The top 20 ridings that delivered the most votes for Carney are home to multimillion-dollar estates, private schools, and well-connected insiders—individuals unlikely to feel the direct effects of Liberal economic policies. This contrasts with Poilievre’s broader populist appeal and grassroots mobilization during his leadership bid.
As Canada heads to the polls on April 28, 2025, the political landscape remains volatile. For months, the Conservative Party, under Poilievre’s leadership, maintained a 20-point lead over the Liberals. However, the gap has narrowed since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation and U.S. President Donald Trump began making tariff threats against Canada.
Much of the Liberals' recent surge can be attributed to backlash against Trump’s proposed tariffs, which have increased public support for the governing party at the expense of the Conservatives. This shifting momentum has led to Carney calling an early election to capitalize on the favorable conditions before a new tariff agreement is reached.
The Liberal Party’s opaque verification process and the concentration of elite support for Carney raise important questions about the party’s internal democracy. As Canadians prepare to vote, they deserve clarity and transparency about how political leaders are chosen—especially when the stakes involve the highest office in the nation.
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