Liberal leadership contender Frank Baylis is a Montrealer who says he will stand up to Trump

Meet the Montrealer who wants to replace Justin Trudeau as the new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Frank Baylis announced his intention to run as party leader earlier this week, but this relative unknown has reportedly been considering running since at least last summer after the Liberals lost the Toronto—St. Paul's byelection in June.

“I believe that my skillset can be something that can really help our country go to its full potential,” Baylis told CTV News. “I want to be part of building our country to the next level.”

Baylis is a businessman and former MP who represented Montreal's Pierrefonds—Dollard from 2015 to 2019 and chose not to seek re-election. He resides in the West Island.

He holds an electrical engineering degree from the University of Waterloo and jointly ran Baylis Medical Technologies from 1989 to 2022.

The company previously called Baylis Medical was founded by Baylis’ mother, Gloria Baylis, a registered nurse and civil rights activist originally from Barbados. His father, Richard Baylis, immigrated to Montreal from the United Kingdom in the early 1950s.

The company was sold to an American firm in 2022 for a reported $1.75 billion. Baylis serves as the executive chairman of the board of directors.

He said that as the leader, he would stand up to President-elect Donald Trump and protect Canadians, jobs, and Canadian industries.

“These are negotiating tactics from President-elect Trump, and they will not work on me. And I have already dealt with these kinds of things. So, I would tell Canadians to understand what he is trying to do. Do not fall into the trap. We will get together and make it work,” he explained.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods imported into the U.S if Canada doesn’t address the flow of illegal drugs and migrants over the shared border.

“These are threats. I take them very seriously. We will prepare for them. But at the same token, they hurt the Americans as much as us, and we need to keep that in mind,” said the businessman.

With files from CTV News Montreal's Maya Johnson