After winning the Liberal leadership contest, Mark Carney will take Justin Trudeau’s place as prime minister of Canada. He is a former governor of the central bank and will be the first prime minister of Canada without any prior cabinet or parliamentary experience.
Briefly
- The Liberal Party leadership contest in Canada is won by Mark Carney.
- Carney supports a firm opposition to US tariffs.
- Due to low approval, Justin Trudeau resigns after nine years.
The Liberal Party of Canada has elected Mark Carney as its leader, and he will take Justin Trudeau’s place as prime minister.
Former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland was defeated by Carney, 59, who received 86% of the vote. A little less than 152,000 party members took part in the competition.
After serving in office for more than nine years, Trudeau declared in January that he would resign. After his approval rating plummeted, the ruling Liberal Party quickly held a race to replace him.
“This is a moment that will define the country, no doubt about it. Democracies are not guaranteed. Being free is not a given. “Canada itself is not a given,” Trudeau stated in his parting remarks. “Now, as Canadians face, from our neighbour, an existential challenge, an economic crisis, Canadians are showing exactly what we are made of,” he stated.
Political novice Carney claimed he was in the greatest position to lead trade talks with US President Donald Trump, who is threatening more tariffs that might have an impact on Canada’s export-dependent economy, and to revitalize the party.
With his win, Carney became the first foreigner to hold the position of prime minister of Canada without any political experience. He said that his background as the first governor of two G7 central banks made him the most qualified to handle Trump.
Carney backed dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs against the US and a concerted plan to increase investment throughout the campaign. He claimed that under Trudeau, Canada’s economic growth was insufficient.
Trump’s tariffs and his repeated claims that Canada would become the 51st US state, along with the possibility of a new beginning for the Liberal Party under Carney, caused a rise in Liberal support.
MARK CARNEY IS WHO?
Former central bank governor Carney has never been elected. Born in 1965 in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, he worked for 13 years at Goldman Sachs after attending Harvard. He began working at the Bank of Canada in 2003 as a deputy governor, left in 2004 to work in the finance ministry, and returned as governor in 2008. The central bank was led by him during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.
In the Bank of England’s three-century existence, Carney was the first non-British governor in 2013. The first person to head two G7 central banks was him. During his term, the political unpredictability of Brexit was present.
In 2020, he was a United Nations envoy on climate change and finance after departing the Bank of England.
Among the four Liberal candidates for leadership, Carney raised the most money and garnered the most endorsements.
