It was only two weeks ago when Liberal MP Michael McLeod spoke to Mark Carney, he told SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½ on Feb. 24.

"We talked about a lot of different things. We talked about [Donald] Trump. We talked about Indigenous issues. We talked about the North. We talked about infrastructure. We had a good 20-something minute chat," he said.

McLeod described Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada, as an easy guy to talk to. Whether that will translate tonight during a Liberal leadership debate will be known within hours.

The debate includes three other candidates for the Liberal leadership, all of whom are MPs: Chrystia Freeland, Karina Gould and Frank Baylis. McLeod said he knows them all better than Carney, he noted.

Still, that hasn't stopped Carney from winning McLeod over. In late January, McLeod announced his endorsement for Carney, who's the front runner to be the next prime minister, according to . He was also born in Fort Smith, although he didn't live in the NWT for long. 

"I've had the opportunity to talk to them," said McLeod of all the candidates, "and I'm really impressed with what I hear [from Carney]. He knew so much about the North and he also knew so much about Indigenous issues."

McLeod explained that keeping focus on those issues is key to him.

"It's so easy to get lost if you don't have the attention of the leader," he said. 

For the debate, McLeod said he's hoping to see how each candidate conducts themselves under questions and in the public eye. He added he wants to hear how they talk about the whole country and not just southern provinces. 

The Liberals still don't have a candidate to succeed McLeod as the MP in the territory. Could Carney, with his Northern background, choose this riding in hopes of catapulting himself into Parliament? McLeod said he does not know.

"That's something that would have to be discussed with the riding association," he said. "He grew up in Edmonton so he may look at Alberta. It'll be a tougher place to run, but I think we'll have to wait and see."

Liberals , according to various polls, though still trailing leading Conservative party by a fair margin in most polls.

McLeod said he hopes the surge in popularity continues. Depending on who the next leader ends up being, he said he expects them to make a fairly quick decision about when to hold a federal election.