Mark Carney wins race to succeed Justin Trudeau as Canada’s prime minister and Liberal Party leader – he will be sworn in as PM in the coming days.
In his acceptance speech, the former head of the UK’s and Canada’s central banks says his nation faces “dark, dark days, brought on by a country we can no longer trust”.
In a message to US President Donald Trump, Carney pledges to keep retaliatory tariffs on US goods until “Americans show us respect”.
Earlier, outgoing PM Justin Trudeau said Canada was facing “an existential threat from our neighbour” in reference to Trump’s tariffs and threats to make Canada “the 51st state”.
Carney, who easily won the leadership race against three rivals, will lead the Liberals into the next general election – it must be held by 20 October but could be triggered later this month.
Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January after a nine-year stretch in the role, had been facing growing pressure from within his own party to resign.
Carney has my support, says Freeland
Former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who came in second place to become the next leader of the Liberal Party, has told reporters that Carney has her support.
In quotes cited by the Canadian Broadcasting Company, she says she will run in the next federal election and pointed to it being Carney’s decision when asked about serving in his cabinet.
Freeland resigned from Trudeau’s cabinet last December, triggering a crisis within the party that eventually led to Trudeau’s decision to step down.
Conservative Party leader Poilievre attacks Carney
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has criticised Mark Carney’s victory, saying Liberals “are trying to trick Canadians” to elect them to a fourth term.
“It is the same Liberal team that drove up taxes, housing costs, and food prices, while Carney personally profited from moving billions of dollars and thousands of jobs out of Canada to the United States,” he writes.
“We need a new Conservative government that will put Canada First—for a change.”
Poilievre and Carney will be campaigning against one another in this year’s general election, once it is called.
In his earlier speech, Carney took multiple swipes at Poilievre, saying that “if he succeeds, [he] will weaken our economy”.
New Democratic Party leader congratulates Carney
Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, has congratulated Carney on his win in a post on X.
Singh writes that Canadians are counting on political leaders “to fight for them in these challenging times”.
“We will disagree on many ideas, priorities and policies – but we should always stand united in protecting our country from the threat posed by Donald Trump,” he says.
Credit: BBC
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