Canada's ruling Liberals move on from Trudeau with Trump boost

TORONTO, March 6 (Reuters) - Canada's ruling Liberal party is moving on from a decade dominated by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by capitalizing on a wave of patriotism and adopting policies designed to appeal to conservative-leaning voters turned off by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Liberal party members will select a successor to Trudeau, who earlier this year announced his resignation facing deep unpopularity, on March 9. A national election expected soon after could be a test case for centrist parties around the world trying to navigate a wave of right-wing populism exemplified by the Trump presidency.

Trump has hit Canada, a long-time U.S. ally, with sweeping tariffs and threatened to annex the country. His unprecedented threats have united Canadians and given the governing Liberals, trailing in the polls for more than a year, a fighting chance in a general election that must be held by October and may be called much earlier.

Mark Carney, former head of both the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, is the frontrunner in the Liberal leadership race with the most party endorsements and the most money raised among the four major candidates.

Former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who broke with Trudeau over Canada's fiscal position and tariff preparation after Trudeau tried to replace her, is also prominent in the race.

About 400,000 Liberal party members are eligible to cast ballots in the leadership contest.

The Liberals are trying to position themselves as an anti-populist party while adopting policies that address the concerns of people drawn to populist politics, said University of British Columbia politics professor Stewart Prest.

It is unclear whether they ha...
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