Ottawa

Liberal leadership race comes into focus

Aaron Wherry catches you up on the race

The race to lead the third party comes to the fore this weekend in Vancouver with the first of the campaign’s five debates. We’ll have live coverage on Sunday, but first, a look at some of the story so far.

After a summer of waiting, Justin Trudeau got in and explained himself (and maybe misquoted Goethe). He dismissed the idea of a merger with the NDP, focused on the middle class, tried to learn from Barack Obama, was said to support supply management, expressed support for decriminalizing marijuana, got in trouble for some comments about Albertans, tried to explain himself, apologized and then appealed for help. The Conservatives invited him to testify at committee. He described the long gun registry as a failure and then tried to explain himself. He angered Catholics, earned the wrath of God and spoke to the Reviving the Islamic Spirit conference.

Martha Hall Findlay has denounced supply management and mused about raising the GST. Marc Garneau got in and considered the long-gun registry, explained his views on gun control, called for foreign investment in telecommunications and proposed democratic reform. Deborah Coyne talked to John Geddes. Joyce Murray got in and called for cooperation with other parties. George Takach got in too. And there is now some fussing over the voting rules.

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