OTTAWA: Mark Carney has officially won the leadership race of Canada’s ruling Liberal Party, putting the former central banker and political newcomer on course to become the next Prime Minister after Justin Trudeau, official results announced Sunday show.
The 59-year-old Carney landed an overwhelming 86 per cent of the votes of nearly 152,000 party members who cast ballots in the race, smashing former finance minister Chrystia Freeland in a high-profile battle.
For Canada, the win comes at a particularly tough moment: a trade war — led by U.S. President Donald Trump — is heating up, and a federal election is just around the corner.
Carney: I’ll Refuse to Be Trumped
Carney made mention of the rising tensions with Washington directly in his party convention victory speech:
President Trump; that elicited loud boos from the crowd: “There is someone trying to weaken our economy,” Carney said. “He is waging war on Canadian workers and families and businesses. We can’t let him succeed.”
In introducing the Mervyn King Memorial Lecture, Carney also made a call for daring leadership in the stormy conditions during which we seem to be living:
He continued, “This isn’t going to be a typical case.” “We will have to do things we have never done before, at speeds we never thought possible.”
End of the Trudeau Era
It also signals the end of almost nine years in office for prime minister Justin Trudeau. In January, following a precipitous collapse in approval ratings, Trudeau announced that he was resigning, and the Liberal Party opened a hastily-scheduled leadership competition.
Trudeau addressed this in his farewell speech:
Something like this does not happen every week — or even every year; this is a nation-defining moment. Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given. He said, “Even Canada is far from assured.”
Carney’s Unique Background & Challenges Ahead
Will Mark Carney be the first non politician to become the head of Canada? But he has a lifetime of international experience, a former Governor of the Bank of Canada and Governor of the Bank of England, uniquely in the world having run two G7 central banks.
Faced with President Donald Trump’s threats of new tariffs that could hit Canada’s export-reliant economy hard, Carney vows to come down hard in the trade talks.
An apparent allusion to $C30 billion in retaliatory tariffs Canada placed on American goods after U.S. tariffs on Canadian products, Carney asserted: “My government would stand firm and hold our tariffs on until such time as the Americans treat us with respect.”
Liberals get a clean slate
His election has recharged the Liberal Party, which has gained ground as many Canadians express anger at Trump for canceling the two-nation economic agreement and for provocative comments about annexing Canada as the 51st U.S. state.
The Liberals are betting a political comeback on Carney, now that he is in charge, as the country heads toward what seems an inevitable election battle
