Banking executive Mark Carney will be Canada’s next prime minister after being elected by the governing Liberal Party’s membership. The former Canadian Central Bank governor and former governor of the Bank of England won 131,764 votes out of 151,899 cast (roughly 86%) by the nearly 400,000 party members registered to take part in the election. He will be taking over from Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January, citing “internal battles” with cabinet members that, from his perspective, meant that he “cannot be the one to carry the Liberal standard into the next election.” In December, Trudeau’s finance minister Chrystia Freeland resigned after he reportedly asked Carney to take over her position. Freeland placed second in the election with around 11,000 votes, or only 8% of the tally.
The United States has taken a hard line against many of its traditional allies since Trump took office again, including Canada, which the president threatened with a 250% tariff on dairy products with immediate effect on Friday. That announcement came just a day after Trump walked back a 25% tariff for most Canadian and Mexican products, pausing them for another month. Canadian politicians have been united in their opposition to Trump on this front, and Carney is no exception, having expressed his willingness to confront Trump on social media. “Canadians don’t want to check social media every morning to see what President Trump might do to our economy,” he wrote on Twitter in February. “This is Canada — and we will decide our future.”
By law, Canada must hold a general election by October 20th, although Canadian media indicates the strong possibility that Carney will call elections before parliament resumes on March 25th, as opposition parties are likely to push a co-confidence motion in the House for a national vote. In that case, the election would be held either on April 28th or May 5th. Carney is expected to assume office by the end of next week after discussing the transition with Trudeau.
