Former central banker Mark Carney has become Canada’s new prime minister, replacing Justin Trudeau. The change comes as Canada navigates difficult relations with the US, its neighbor and largest trading partner.
Mark Carney was sworn in as the 24th prime minister of Canada on Friday. Carney replaces outgoing PM Justin Trudeau, who stepped down in January after leading the country for nearly 10 years.
A former central banker who was recently named the leader of the Liberal Party, Carney had never held elected office until today.
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On Friday, Carney swore allegiance to King Charles III as well as swearing himself to secrecy in all things regarding his business with the king at Privy Council before pledging to faithfully execute the powers of the prime minister.
His Cabinet was also sworn in during the ceremony, which took place at Ottawa’s Rideau Hall.
Though he is largely expected to call for new elections in the coming days or weeks, Carney and his Liberal Party may have a new lease on life thanks to an angry neighbor, US President Donald Trump.
Until Trump took office, the Liberals were looking at certain electoral doom as their popularity waned. But abusive statements by the US president — insulting not only Trudeau but the whole of Canada — his repeated insistence that Canada should become a US state and his decision to start an unprovoked trade war — with America’s neighbor, ally and leading trading partner — seem to have breathed new wind into his party’s sails.
Some in Carney’s Cabinet, such as Francois-Philippe Champagne, say the change in Canadian leadership could offer a chance to “reset” US-Canadian relations. Trump famously disliked Carney’s successor Trudeau as well as other top Liberals such as Chrystia Freeland.
The strain that Trump’s actions and words have exerted on Ottawa is clear, and it was ultimately a fight over how to deal with his consistent economic belligerence that led then Finance Minister Freeland to break with Trudeau over how to confront it, thus bringing down his government.
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With Canadians boycotting US products and politely telling their southern neighbors to buzz off, Carney, too, has stood up for his compatriots.
Speaking to his Liberal Party on Sunday, he said, “we didn’t ask for this fight but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves,” in reference to fights that break out during ice hockey games (Canada’s national sport) in which players throw their gloves to the ice before commencing to beat on one another.
Carney also took a dig at his southern neighbors by saying, “Americans should make no mistake, in trade as in hockey, Canada will win” — Canada recently defeated the US in an important yet highly politicized international tournament.
Still, Carney has said that he is willing to meet Trump to discuss the situation if the US leader shows “respect for Canadian sovereignty” and a willingness to take “a common approach… a much more comprehensive approach to trade.”
In remarks delivered after his swearing in on Friday, Carney repeated his his conviction that Canada and the US are inherently different and that Canadians remain the masters of their country, vowing that Canada “will never, ever, in any way, shape or form, be part of the United States,” calling the idea “crazy.”
Carney, who also worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, said he respects the US and President Trump before outlining common experiences and past cooperation, adding that he looks forward to meeting Trump at an appropriate time and finding “ways to work together.”
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Nevertheless, Trump’s trade war continues to escalate, with the US already slapping 25% tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum and threatening far more on April 2. Canada has retaliated in kind.
The whole drama has led to a spike in Canadian nationalism that has surprisingly buoyed the Liberals’ electoral chances.
Before Trudeau announced his resignation the party trailed the opposition Conservatives by 25 percentage points, now they have pulled within six points and have political momentum as Canadians seem to trust Carney as someone capable of standing up to Trump.
The party’s future fortunes will now depend on how he and his Cabinet perform over the coming weeks.
Carney, who said he will have “a lot of wood to chop” as prime minister, is no stranger to navigating crises — having previously steered the Bank of Canada through the 2008 global financial meltdown; and, as the first non-UK citizen ever to head the Bank of England, shoring up the UK bank as it was buffeted by the effects of Brexit in 2013.
Speaking during a question and answer session before his government’s first Cabinet meeting Friday afternoon, Carney told reporters that he had received invitations to travel to Paris and London for meetings with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron as America’s historical allies join forces to navigate a new future in which the US is looked upon with dread and caution rather than blindly trusted as a reliable partner.
On remarks delivered Friday afternoon, Carney acknowledged what he called “a time of great consequence for our country,” focusing on the leaner, smaller nature of his Cabinet and pledging that it would be efficient when it comes to addressing the many concerns facing the nation— which he described as diverse and tolerant, with deep indigenous, French and British roots.
Edited by Jenipher Camino Gonzalez
DW News
