Jessica Murphy
Reporting from Ottawa

There are many Mark Carney signs waved by his supporters in this crowd - they are hard to miss - but the other candidate with the most visibility is Karina Gould, who at 37 is the youngest in this race.

Howard Brown has been helping her campaign. "I saw in her a kindness," he says.

"And I think it's very rare in politicians, she seemed to have not only an understanding of the issues, not only she was there for the right reasons, but she really related to all the people."

I met possibly one of her youngest supporters (too young to vote in this race, where you have to be at least 14), but Bruce Malinowski says if he could, he would vote for Gould.

"I just feel like she has really good ideas, and she's a really smart person," he says.

What got you interested in politics, I ask.

"My parents," he answers.

Image source, Reuters

Up next is House leader Karina Gould, who also picked a strong upbeat song to make her entrance.

She says it's a "great day for the Liberal Party", saying "it's our party that stands up for Canada and stands up for Canadians".

"I am proud to be a Liberal in Canada," she says. "And let's remember, we are the party of healthcare. We are the party of the charter. We are the party of the Maple Leaf.

"Tonight, whatever the result, we leave here proud Liberals, proud Canadians and united so that we can take the fight to [Conservative Party leader] Pierre Poilievre, win the next election and stand up for Canada."

Image source, Reuters

Former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland takes to the stage to her usual soundtrack of Maneater by Nelly Furtado.

She says there is a remarkable wave of patriotism across Canada right now.

"Canadians are ready to fight for Canada, and I know all of us have one message for Donald Trump tonight, Canada will never be the 51st state," she says.

Image source, Reuters

The leadership event is now under way and the four leadership candidates are being welcomed into the hall.

First up is Frank Baylis, who is slowly making his way in followed by supporters while he greets the crowd.

He thanks his "wife and family, my friends" for the support shown: "I'm deeply, deeply grateful."

Baylis immediately addresses the tariff threats without any direct mention to Donald Trump, saying that "the man who challenges us doesn't understand us and our values".

"We're a compassionate people. So we will not be intimidated by a tweet and we will not be broken by tariffs.

"Tonight as we choose our next leader, regardless of who it is, let's go forward together into our future with confidence and optimist."

Image source, Reuters

We're expecting proceedings to start at 21:00 GMT (17:00 EST), with incumbent Justin Trudeau slated to deliver what will likely be his final major speech as prime minister after an introduction from his 16-year-old daughter, Ella Grace.

Jean Chretien, who led the country between 1993 and 2003, will follow Trudeau with a speech, before the winner of the leadership contest is announced.

Stick with us for live updates.

Jessica Murphy
Reporting from Ottawa

I caught Sophie Kiwala and Janet Conn getting their photo taken in front of a bright red Liberal sign in the Ottawa convention centre, where the party is holding their leadership event.

They are long-time Liberals - Kiwala is a former Liberal provincial politician. She's happy to see change in the party, but calls it "bittersweet".

Of Justin Trudeau, who is resigning after nine years as prime minister, Conn says: "Sometimes you can be in the job too long".

But she praises his recent handling of US President Donald Trump.

"What he's done in the last month or so with everything that's going on, I'm more than thrilled with him, and even people that didn't like him say the same."

Both women back Mark Carney in the leadership race. Kiwala is impressed by his time as a central banker in Canada and the UK.

"I feel that he has the good decision-making skills behind him. He's got a lot of excellent experience," she says.

"So we're very excited for the possibilities that exist in the future for Canada and for our party."

The Liberals say some 400,000 people - Canadians or permanent residents of Canada, who are at least 14 years old - registered to vote in the party's leadership race.

They have until 15:00 EST (19:00 GMT) today to cast their ballot for one of four contestants, who are Mark Carney, Chrystia Freeland, Karina Gould and Frank Baylis.

This is not a first-past-the-post race.

The party is using a preferential ballot system, where voters rank the contestants by preference. Ballots are counted in the federal riding - or constituency - of each member.

The party has given each riding 100 points. The contestants earn points based on how much support they win in each.

The contestants who received the least overall points will be eliminated and their points redistributed.

The first contestant to receive more than 50% - a majority - of the points wins.

Image source, Reuters

Former trade and investment specialist Karina Gould says she would represent a "new generation" if elected.

Gould was first elected in 2015 and has served a number of roles in Trudeau's cabinet - including families minister and international development minister.

The 37-year-old is the youngest woman to serve as a minister in Canada and, as the current House leader, she oversees the government's legislative agenda.

Gould launched her bid by saying "Canadians have lost trust in our party", using current trade tensions with the US to convince voters to choose her as leader.

She suggested that Canada should "put everything on the table" to protect its sovereignty, and that the federal government should help businesses diversify their portfolios to depend less on the US.

Image source, Getty Images

A former Liberal member of parliament, Frank Baylis was the first out of the gate to announce he is seeking the leadership of the party.

The 62-year-old says he'll bring his experience from the world of business to address the affordability and cost-of-living challenges facing Canadians.

An engineer by training, Baylis is the executive chairman of a medical device company founded by his mother and where he later served as president.

He served as an MP between 2015-2019 and was a founding member of the Parliamentary Black Caucus.

Baylis has been heavily critical of Trudeau's approach to Trump's tariff threats, claiming he would deal with Trump better than his opponents.

He says Canada needs to build its productivity and forge closer economic ties with like-minded countries like the UK, New Zealand and Australia.

Image source, Reuters

Toronto member of parliament Chrystia Freeland - also in the race for the top job - is easily one of the most well-known members of Trudeau's team.

While she had long been seen as a trusted senior official in his inner circle, a rift with the prime minister's office led to her recent abrupt resignation in December.

That was a blow to Trudeau's already-shaky hold on power, helping to usher in his own resignation.

Born to a Ukrainian mother in the western province of Alberta, the 56-year-old was a journalist before entering politics.

She entered the House of Commons in 2013 and two years later joined Trudeau's cabinet with a trade brief after he swept the party to power.

As minister of foreign affairs she helped Canada renegotiate a free trade deal with the US and Mexico.

She was later named deputy prime minister and minister of finance and oversaw Canada's financial response to the Covid pandemic.

A 2019 Globe and Mail profile said depending who you asked, Freeland is either a last, best hope for the liberal world order or an out-of-touch idealist.

Her steadfast support of Ukraine earned praise in some quarters but the Harvard-educated MP has had her share of critics, including Trump who recently called her "toxic".

Former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney is widely considered the frontrunner in this leadership race.

He's sought to position himself as the man who can steer the country through the fallout caused by US President Donald Trump's tariffs.

"In a situation like this, you need experience in terms of crisis management, you need negotiating skills," he said during a leadership debate last month.

Carney, who was born in Canada's Northwest Territories and then spent his formative years growing up in Edmonton, Alberta, has been serving in recent months as a special economics adviser to Justin Trudeau.

He has long been considered a contender for the top job, though the Harvard graduate has never held public office. Trudeau himself admitted that he had long been trying to recruit Carney to his team.

But Carney has tried to distance himself from the unpopular prime minister, saying he is "not the only Liberal in Canada who believes that the prime minister and his team let their attention wander from the economy too often". Trudeau's approval ratings have however improved since Trump's return to office.

Carney brings with him expertise on environmental matters through his role as the United Nations special envoy on climate action, recently calling the goal of net zero "the greatest commercial opportunity of our time".

• Read more about Carney's career, specifically the time he spent in London as the governor of the Bank of England

The first key timing today is 15:00 EST (19:00 GMT). That's when voting closes for all who've registered to vote for the next Liberal leader.

The festivities - held in Ottawa, Canada's national capital - officially kicks off at 17:00.

Party faithful will first pay tribute to Justin Trudeau, who led the Liberals for over a decade and has been prime minister for the last nine years.

There will be a tribute video and then his 16-year-old daughter Ella will speak - a first major political appearance for the young Trudeau.

Justin Trudeau will then give what will likely be his very last speech as prime minister.

Jean Chretien, the feisty 91-year-old former Liberal PM who was in power from 1993 to 2003 - will take the stage for remarks.

And then around 18:30, the party will unveil its new leader - and Canada's next prime minister.

Canadian politics upended as Liberals pick new leaderpublished at 19:11 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March

19:11 GMT 9 March

Jessica Murphy
Reporting from Ottawa, Canada

Politics in Canada is in flux.

Two events shattered the status quo in January: Justin Trudeau's resignation and Donald Trump's inauguration two weeks later.

For months, it had looked like the Conservatives, who held a significant two-digit lead in opinion polling, were going to easily sweep to a majority victory in the next election.

But the promise of a new Liberal leader replacing the deeply unpopular Trudeau has sparked renewed interest in the party, which has been in power since 2015.

Canadians are facing an uncertain future as the Trump administration threatens multiple rounds of punishing tariffs on the trade-dependent country while the US president muses about making Canada the 51st state.

Now, polls indicate the coming race will be much tighter, with the Conservative lead shrinking as Canadian ask themselves if they want change, or prefer to stick to the familiar Liberals at a time of volatility.

Image source, Getty Images

Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of Canada's Liberal leadership race.

In a few hours, we'll learn not only who will be the new face of the ruling political party but - more importantly - who will replace Justin Trudeau as prime minister.

It's been a brief but competitive campaign, with many of the candidates centring their messages around how best to handle the new US administration and Donald Trump's tariffs.

There are four candidates vying to become the next leader of the Liberal Party, including:

• Mark Carney, a former central banker
• Chrystia Freeland, a former deputy prime minister and minister of finance in Trudeau's cabinet
• Karina Gould, government House leader
• and businessman Frank Baylis, who was also a former Liberal member of parliament

You'll be hearing more about those candidates soon, and we'll also be getting fresh analysis from our correspondents on the ground in Ottawa, who will be bringing you live updates from the Rogers Centre in the nation's capital.

Stick with us as we bring you the latest.