Yesterday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom. The Prime Minister offered his sincerest condolences regarding the fatalities and destruction in the Los Angeles area from the ongoing wildfires, and he offered Canada’s full support to assist California’s firefighting efforts.

Donald Trump has repeatedly talked about making Canada the US’ ‘51st state.’ This, despite Canada’s outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau repeatedly and publicly shooting down such a notion. But did Trudeau actually offer to trade Trump certain parts of Canada in exchange for Vermont or California?

TORONTO — A former central banker who has drawn comparisons to George Clooney and who earned praise for guiding Canada through the 2008 financial crisis. A New York Times best-selling author who attracted the KGB’s fury. An amiable lawyer nicknamed the “Energizer Bunny.” They are among the potential candidates to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who bowed to his bleak political prospects and pressure from his party on Monday, saying he intends to resign once a successor is in place. That kicked off a nationwide contest to replace him. His successor will lead the Liberals in a federal election that must be held by October but is likely to come sooner. It is not clear if cabinet ministers will have to step down to participate in the contest. Several are weighing whether to run against whether it is in Canada’s best interests for them to stay in their roles with President-elect Donald Trump, who has threatened steep tariffs, returning to office. Few people have formally thrown their hat in the ring. Among the possible candidates are Anita Anand, a transport minister who earned plaudits for her procurement of vaccines; Christy Clark, a former premier of British Columbia; and Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s natural resources minister. Here’s what to know about some of the others. 1. Chrystia Freeland Freeland, 56, is a former journalist who covered the fall of the Soviet Union and its aftermath. An Alberta native and Ukrainian-Canadian who studied at Harvard and Oxford, she drew the KGB’s attention as a student traveling through Ukraine in the 1980s. Its code name for her was Frida. When Trudeau recruited her to join politics, it was seen as a major coup. She earned praise for her role as foreign minister in renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement during Trump’s first presidency. Maclean’s magazine put her on its cover with the words “You’re welcome, Canada.” Trudeau also tapped her to lead Canada’s pandemic response, and named her deputy prime minister, a title bestowed occasionally but not always. One of his most loyal lieutenants, she was nicknamed “the Minister of Everything.” As finance minster, however, she had detractors. In a 1991 op-ed in the Toronto Star, Freeland wrote that she was “embarrassed and angered” by Canada’s “vacillating” policy on Ukraine. Several decades later, she played a role in shaping that policy, pushing allies to impose sanctions on Russia’s central bank after the invasion of Ukraine. Trudeau fired her as finance minister over Zoom last month and sought to shuffle her into a lesser role. She resigned from the cabinet instead. In a letter that accelerated a caucus revolt, she said she and Trudeau had been at odds over fiscal policy and preparations for the Trump presidency. 2. Mark Carney Speculation about whether Carney might one day enter Liberal politics has followed him for more than a decade. Born in a small town in the Northwest Territories, his career as a Goldman Sachs investment banker took him to New York, Toronto and Tokyo. Carney, a former governor of the Bank of Canada, earned praise for his stewardship of the country during the 2008 financial crisis. He later became the first foreigner to head the Bank of England. His movie star looks and sharp suits made him an object of fascination for the British tabloids. Carney, 59, does not have formal political experience, but he has not shied away from opining on political issues. He warned of Brexit’s negative impacts. He called on police to enforce the law during the self-styled “Freedom Convoy” blockades here in 2022, accusing those donating to the demonstrations of funding sedition. Carney, godfather to one of Freeland’s children, is a U.N. special envoy on climate action. He joined the Liberals as a special economic adviser last year. Conservatives call him “carbon tax Carney,” a nod to his one-time support for an unpopular Trudeau policy. 3. Mélanie Joly Joly once ran as a rookie to be Montreal’s mayor, surprising observers by finishing second. She is known as a talented political organizer, particularly in Quebec, a key battleground in federal elections. Trudeau named Joly, 45, Canada’s heritage minister in 2015, but demoted her in 2018 after several missteps. He promoted her to foreign minister in 2021. She has led the response to the war in Ukraine, the war in Gaza and allegations of foreign interference on Canadian soil. Joly has earned mixed reviews as Canada’s top diplomat. Critics charge that she is out of her depth and have called for her resignation. 4. François-Philippe Champagne Champagne, known as the “Energizer Bunny,” is industry minister. In that role, he has traveled the globe, adding to his deep Rolodex of contacts, pitching Canada as an alternative to a protectionist United States and seeking to drum up investment in the country’s electric vehicles supply chain. A trained lawyer, Champagne is also a co-lead of the “Team Canada” strategy, which saw top officials fan across the United States before last year’s presidential election to stave off policies detrimental to Canada by explaining how interconnected the countries’ economies are. “My job is to connect the dots,” Champagne, 54, told The Washington Post last year. 5. Pierre Poilievre The victor of the Liberal leadership race will be prime minister. It might not be a long tenure. Trudeau suspended Parliament until March 24, a controversial move that allows the Liberals to hold a leadership contest and delays planned efforts by the opposition parties to bring down his government. But those parties will have several opportunities to do just that not long after a new session of Parliament begins, triggering new elections and leaving Trudeau’s successor with a short window to close a 20 point gap with Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives. Canada’s Conservatives picked Poilievre to lead them in 2022 after three consecutive elections losses. The 45-year-old is a right-wing populist firebrand with a social media savvy and a smarmy, pugilistic style who drew rare standing-room-only crowds during the Conservative leadership race. Poilievre rose to the leadership by trafficking in grievance politics and railing against “wokeism.” When the convoy demonstrators blockaded Ottawa and several border crossings, he hitched his wagon to them. He is not a fan of journalists, but sat recently for an interview with Jordan Peterson. Poilievre has attacked “gatekeepers” and the political establishment, but politics has effectively been his only career. He has hammered the Liberals over the high cost of living and employs short and catchy slogans: “ax the [carbon] tax, build the homes, fix the budget, stop the crime.” The Canadian Press described Poilievre in 2013 as similar to Pete Campbell from the television drama “Mad Men”: The “character everyone loves to hate: young, conservative, ambitious and fabulously snotty.” The question now is whether that style will turn off voters or win them over.

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Justin Trudeau has announced his resignation as the prime minister of Canada and suspended parliament while his party appoints a new leader.