Minister LeBlanc not running for Liberal leadership, as caucus meets for first time since Trudeau resignation

Longtime cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc will not be running to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as head of the Liberals. He announced his decision in a statement posted to social media on Wednesday.

Longtime cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc will not be running to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as head of the Liberals. He announced his decision in a statement posted to social media on Wednesday.

LeBlanc — who's been an MP since 2000 and ran for the leadership in 2008 before dropping out to support Michael Ignatieff — wrote he is "enormously grateful" for those who've encouraged him to run.

"While I am extremely grateful for the encouragement and the expressions of support I have received from caucus colleagues and Liberals across the country, I have decided not to be a candidate in the Liberal Party of Canada's upcoming leadership race," he wrote.

Trudeau announced Monday he's stepping down from the party's leadership, but staying on as prime minister until a new leader is selected through what he called a "robust, nationwide, competitive process."

LeBlanc currently heads up the finance and intergovernmental affairs portfolios, and wrote in his statement he believes the "best way for (him) to serve" Canada is to focus on those files, as U.S. president-elect Donald Trump prepares to head back to the White House in a week and a half.

Trump has threatened to impose blanket 25 per cent tariffs on all imports from Canada until it stops the flow of illegal drugs and migrants over the border. He's also doubled down on a comment he made in late November about Canada becoming the 51st state, saying at a press conference on Tuesday he's open to using "economic force" to that end.

LeBlanc said he plans to run in the next federal election, under the party's new leader, in his New Brunswick riding of Beauséjour.