Canada, which has come under intense trade attacks from U.S. President Donald Trump, will have a non-politician and an economic and financial expert as its new prime minister.
On March 9 (local time), Canada's ruling Liberal Party elected former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney (pictured) as its leader. In Canada’s parliamentary system, the leader of the ruling party becomes the prime minister. Mr. Carney, who received 85.9% of the vote in a ballot of more than 150,000 party members, will be sworn in as prime minister this week, succeeding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his intention to step down in January.
A graduate of Harvard University (undergraduate) and Oxford University (graduate school), Mr. Carney worked at Goldman Sachs and served as Governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 global financial crisis. He was the first foreigner to serve as Governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020.
“Mr. Carney's top priority will be managing Trump's threats to Canada's economy and sovereignty,” the New York Times wrote, noting that Canada has chosen an economic and financial expert—who helped navigate the aftermath of the global financial crisis and Brexit (Britain’s exit from the European Union in 2016)—to take on Mr. Trump.
“Trump is attacking Canadian workers, families, and businesses, and we cannot let him succeed,” Mr. Carney said in a speech following the election. “We will maintain Canada’s retaliatory tariffs against the United States until the Americans show us respect and make credible commitments to free and fair trade,” he said. “In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win,” he added, referring to Canada's most popular sport, ice hockey.
Woo-Sun Lim imsun@donga.com