Canada’s Liberals choose economist Mark Carney to succeed Justin Trudeau

Members of the Liberal Party of Canada on Sunday elected the economist Mark Carney to be their new leader in a landslide vote. Carney, 59, will replace the outgoing party leader and prime minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation early this year. A former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, Carney will be sworn in in the coming days and is expected to call a federal election soon after that. His immediate responsibilities will include dealing with the tariff war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump as well as the latter’s threats of annexation.

“I want to thank you, dear Liberals, for granting me the greatest honor of all: to serve as your new leader,” said Carney in his victory speech. He also said that both Trump and the leader of Canada’s conservatives, Pierre Poilievre, are a danger to Canada.

On January 6, after more than eight years in office, Trudeau announced that he would resign when his party selected a new leader. His decision was driven by a sharp decline in his popularity and growing internal disputes within his party. Carney, who won 85.9% of the votes, was competing against a list of candidates including businessman Frank Baylis, who served as an MP between 2015 and 2019; Karina Gould, MP for Ontario; and Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance until December 16, who has come in a distant second with 8% of the votes. Her resignation in December triggered Trudeau’s decision to step down as party leader.

Before the results of the vote were announced, Trudeau — who is the son of one of Canada’s most popular prime ministers, Pierre Trudeau — gave an emotional speech in which he said that “this is a nation-defining moment. Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given. Even Canada is not a given.”

Trudeau became leader of the Liberals in 2013. Two years later he beat the Conservatives in the election thanks to a combination of magnetism and promises of sweeping change. His key achievements include a federal child benefit, a national child care system and the legalization of recreational cannabis. His broken promises include electoral reform, a balanced budget and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Trudeau has been losing popularity over the years, but not only as a result of his time in power. He has been plagued by scandals over his ties to the highest economic circles, his lack of tolerance for opposing opinions within his team and his insistence on seeking a fourth term. At the same time, relations between Canada and the United States are going through their worst moment.

While the Liberal leadership candidates initially focused their promises mainly on fiscal and budgetary issues, Trump’s tariff threats and their implementation soon became the issue that conditioned the campaign. The Trudeau government responded to Trump by approving similar tariffs, while maintaining constant collaboration with provincial premiers. In this complicated scenario with the largest trading partner, there is great concern about the leadership that will be exercised from Ottawa after Trudeau’s departure.

Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader, has had to put aside his constant criticism of the Liberals on economic issues to adjust, with some difficulty, to the issue of greater interest: the attacks from Washington. Poilievre has indicated that, if he wins the next election, he will be a prime minister who will vigorously protect Canadians against Trump, uttering phrases imbued with patriotism. However, the Conservative leader is seen by some sectors as a politician with quite a few similarities with the U.S. president.

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