Canada’s ruling Liberal Party has elected a political novice to succeed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that is promising to challenge President Trump’s tariff regime tit-for-tat.
Former Bank of Canada chief Mark Carney, who has never held an elected office, won 86 percent of the party vote, beating out the former finance minister, Chrystia Freeland. He takes the helm amid a budding trade war with the Trump administration that he warns could decimate America’s northern neighbor.
“The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country,” Mr. Carney said during a somber victory speech.
“Think about it. If they succeed, they will destroy our way of life.”
Mr. Carney, who has served as governor for the central banks of Canada and the United Kingdom, campaigned for the top spot on his reputation as a disaster manager. He led the banks through the 2008 financial crisis and Brexit, respectively, and since 2020 has been the nation’s Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance at the United Nations.
Campaigning primarily in opposition to Mr. Trump, he favors retaliatory tariffs against America, declaring the rolling tariff threats to be an “economic and sovereign crisis.”
“America is not Canada. And Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape or form,” he said. “We didn’t ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves.”
“Americans should make no mistake,” he said. “In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.”
According to a recent poll, an increasing number of Canadians feel that Mr. Trump is a threat to their nation’s sovereignty. With most Canadians living within 150 miles of the U.S. border, a majority say they are increasingly anxious, angry, and feel betrayed by the president’s remarks about annexing Canada and making it the 51st state.
Before Mr. Trump’s comments, Canada’s Conservative Party leader, Pierre Poilievere, had steadily led polls by double digits. However, after Mr. Trudeau’s resignation and since the start of Mr. Trump’s campaign against America’s northern neighbor, support for the Liberal Party has soared from 16 percent to 37 percent leaving them within the poll’s margin of error against conservatives’ 47 percent, according to a February survey by the Angus Reid Institute.
“When you look at the changes over the past four weeks it’s basically a whole new world … the big change is Trump,” Nik Nanos, founder of the Nanos Research polling firm, told Reuters at the time. Additional polling since then shows Conservatives though trending lower though still on the cusp of a majority in federal elections.
Mr. Carney is no stranger to public conflicts with Mr. Trump. During his time as governor with the Bank of England, he criticized the president’s first-term tariff policies, arguing during a 2018 business summit speech that they would hurt the world economy.
Having not been elected to Parliament, the Liberal Party leader could serve as prime minister without a seat in Canada’s House of Commons, but traditionally, candidates seek to win one as soon as possible. A pair of sources from within the Liberal Party told Reuters that Mr. Carney would call for an election in the coming weeks.
Mr. Trudeau first announced his resignation at the beginning of the new year after facing an increasing revolt from within his caucus amid abysmal poll numbers indicating Liberals would be pushed out of power in the next general election.
During his resignation speech on the steps of his residence at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Ontario, Mr. Trudeau called for Parliament to remain until March 24 when a snap election could be held to seat his replacement.
During his farewell speech on Sunday evening, Mr. Trudeau said it was a defining moment for the nation.
“Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given. Even Canada is not a given.”