Canada’s Liberal Party Chooses Mark Carney To Succeed Justin Trudeau

Canada’s Liberal Party has elected
Mark Carney as the leader of the party in a months-long, high stakes race to replace Justin Trudeau.

He is now mandated to lead the party into the next federal elections – which must be held before October, but could be called much earlier – where he is likely to face stiff competition from the Conservative party, which is currently leading in the polls.

While Carney will take over immediately as Liberal Party leader, Trudeau will remain as Canada’s prime minister for an as-yet undisclosed transitional period while his successor settles in.

One of the biggest issues in Carney’s immediate inbox will be the country’s souring relations with the United States.

In his first remarks following the result of the vote, Carney referenced the tensions with the US, saying his government would “create new trading relationships with reliable trading partners.” He also vowed to keep retaliatory tariffs on the US “until the Americans show us respect.”

“New threats demand new ideas and a new plan,” he told the Liberal Party convention on Sunday.

Slamming the Trump administration’s tariff plans, Carney said of the US president, “He’s attacking Canadian families, workers, and businesses and we cannot let him succeed and we won’t.”

Carney will now face off with Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who has previously been compared to Trump but now seeks to distance himself from the US leader, reiterating at a press conference earlier this week that he is “not MAGA.”

At a rally on Sunday ahead of the Liberal vote, Poilievre delivered scathing remarks about Carney, a former governor of both the Bank of England and Bank of Canada, portraying him as a leader ill-equipped to deal with Trump.

“Working for Trudeau, Carney made Canada weaker and poorer; working for himself Carney made the United States richer and stronger,” Poilievre said.

In his remarks following the results of the vote, Carney shot back at his conservative opponent.

“Donald Trump thinks he can weaken us with his plan to divide and conquer. Pierre Poilievre’s plan will leave us divided and ready to be conquered,” Carney said.

CNN/Ejiofor Ezeifeoma