Mark Carney, the new leader of the Liberals who is expected to become Canada’s prime minister on Sunday, stressed in a speech after his victory that his country will “never” become the 51st state of the United States.
Carney, 59, who served as governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020, succeeds his peer Justin Trudeau, prime minister for a decade since 2015, who announced in January that he would step down as leader of his party and as prime minister amid internal party infighting.
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Mark Carney, a newcomer to politics, received 85.9% of the votes of the approximately 152,000 Liberal party members who participated in the process of electing a new leader, defeating Chrystia Freeland, the former deputy prime minister and finance minister, announced earlier by Sachit Mehra, the party’s president.
He is asked to decide when to call an election in Canada, which must be held no later than October 20. He takes over the leadership of the Liberal party and the helm of the country as Canada has faced unprecedented tensions and a trade war with its powerful neighbor, Donald Trump’s United States.
In his victory speech, Carney said that “there is someone trying to weaken our economy,” referring to Trump — sparking loud boos from the room. “He is attacking our workers, our families, our businesses. We cannot let him succeed,” he continued. The next period will not be about “business as usual,” he added. “We will have to do things we never imagined before at speeds we never thought possible.” A “new economy” must be built, “new trade relationships” must be created, he said.
“My administration will keep tariffs in place until the American people show us respect,” he insisted.
He stressed that the Americans “want our resources, our water, our land, our country. Think about it. If they succeed, they will destroy our way of life (…) America is a melting pot. Canada is a mosaic (…) Canada will never be part of the United States.”
“Make no mistake, this is a defining moment for the nation. Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given. Even Canada is not a given,” he said earlier before the outgoing leader and prime minister Trudeau handed over.
Mark Carney became the first foreigner to lead the Bank of England since its founding in 1694 in 2013. After his tenure at the institution—he was previously governor of the Canadian central bank—he held various positions in Canadian businesses and also served as an advisor to his predecessor.
It is the first time that someone with no political experience and no seat in Parliament has become prime minister of Canada. He argues that his experience leading two G7 central banks has given him the tools to negotiate with Donald Trump.
At the beginning of the year, polls showed the Liberals 20 points behind Pierre Poilièvre’s Conservatives. However, the two parties are currently much closer, although neither would be able to form a government on its own, at least according to the findings of the polling institutes.
