Mark Carney, a former central banker, swept to the leadership of Canada’s Liberal Party on Sunday and will become prime minister at a critical moment for the country, which is facing threats to its economy and sovereignty from President Trump.
Mr. Carney, who has never been elected to public office, was governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 global financial crisis and governor of the Bank of England during Brexit. He was also a successful banker in the private sector, amassing a significant personal fortune.
He dominated the Liberals’ leadership race, securing a decisive win. But because the party does not command a majority in Parliament, Mr. Carney will soon have to call a general election, in which the Liberals will face the Conservative Party, led by Pierre Poilievre.
Mr. Carney’s election marks the end of Justin Trudeau’s decade-long tenure as prime minister. Mr. Trudeau’s popularity had soured, with many blaming him for Canada’s burdensome cost of living, soaring housing costs, overstretched health system and other woes.
Trump’s threats loom large.
Mr. Trump’s shadow hung over the festive gathering of Liberal Party faithful in Ottawa for the Sunday leadership election. His on-again-off-again tariffs on Canadian goods are already hurting the economy, and his frequent statements about making Canada the 51st state have angered most of the public.
Mr. Trudeau captured the mood in his emotional farewell speech, just before Mr. Carney’s victory was announced. “This is a nation-defining moment,” he said. “Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given. Even Canada is not a given.”
In his own speech, Mr. Carney identified two key antagonists as he prepares to take office and lead his party to elections: Mr. Trump and Mr. Poilievre.
“Donald Trump thinks he can weaken us with his plan to divide and conquer,” Mr. Carney said. “Pierre Poilievre’s plan will leave us divided and ready to be conquered, because a person who worships at the altar of Donald Trump will kneel before him, not stand up to him.”
Carney sees ‘dark days.’
Mr. Carney was swept into the leadership, winning 85.9 percent of the roughly 152,000 votes cast by Liberal Party members.
In contrast to the “sunny ways” Mr. Trudeau promised when he became prime minister in 2015, Mr. Carney pointed to clouds on the horizon, coming from the direction of Washington.
“I know that these are dark days, dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust,” Mr. Carney said.
Mr. Carney, who is seen as a centrist technocrat, revisited some of his main campaign promises, including the immediate elimination of Mr. Trudeau’s widely criticized carbon tax and the reversal of a capital-gains tax hike. Mr. Carney’s campaign focused mainly on reorienting Canada’s economy, which has been weakened by inflation and low productivity.
“I am a pragmatist above all,” he told party members. “When I see something that’s not working, I will change it.”
Though Mr. Carney has spent much of his career in the public eye as the head of two central banks, in Canada he is a lesser known figure than Chrystia Freeland, the former finance minister who finished a distant second in the Liberal leadership race.
But he will soon be thrust into battle against Mr. Trump, defending Canada against the American president’s caustic criticisms and the various tariffs he has threatened to impose.
Trudeau bids an emotional farewell.
When Mr. Trudeau was elected in 2015, promising to usher Canada into an optimistic era, he became the telegenic face of global progressivism.
On Sunday, in a speech seen as a bookend to his time in power, Mr. Trudeau tried to offer a hopeful message, but he also said soberly that Canada faced an “existential challenge” from its neighbor. He has made clear that he sees Mr. Trump’s threats to annex Canada as deadly serious.
In the face of that challenge, Mr. Trudeau said, “Canadians are showing what it is that makes us Canadians; not by defining ourselves by who we’re not, but by proudly embracing who we are.”
Mr. Trudeau began his remarks with tears in his eyes after an introduction from his daughter, Ella-Grace Trudeau, 16. “My brothers and I have shared our dad with you for the past 12 years,” she said. “Now, we’re taking him back.”
The election’s been transformed.
Mr. Carney, who does not hold a seat in Parliament, is expected to be sworn in as prime minister early this week.
He will soon face off against Mr. Poilievre, a career politician who commanded a double-digit lead over the Liberals in opinion polls just a few months ago.
But Mr. Trump’s bellicosity has upended the race. Mr. Poilievre has been hurt by a perception that he is ideologically aligned with the U.S. president, and surveys indicate that voters believe Mr. Carney is a better choice to take him on.
Mr. Poilievre, who had been relentlessly accusing Liberals of having “broken” Canada, has now shifted to a “Canada First” message as he seeks to distance himself from Mr. Trump.
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