The Liberal Party chose banker and climate activist Mark Carney to replace Justin Trudeau as Canada’s next prime minister during the party’s elections on Sunday night.
Carney, who has led the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, easily secured the win, taking 86% of the vote during the Liberal Party election. During his victory speech, Carney took shots at President Donald Trump and claimed that America wanted to destroy Canada’s way of life.
“America is not Canada. And Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape or form,” Carney said. “We didn’t ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves.”
Since becoming president, Trump has suggested that Canada could become America’s 51st state and levied a series of tariffs against the country.
“Canada will not bow down to a bully. We won’t stand by as illegal U.S. tariffs hurt our workers and their families. As Canadians, we need to face this challenge as one united team,” Carney said. He added that the Americans would “destroy our way of life” if they succeeded in getting “our water, our land, our country.”
Carney is expected to call for nationwide elections sometime in the next few weeks, which could shake up the political makeup of Parliament. Alongside Trudeau, the Liberal Party’s popularity has fallen in recent months, and the Conservative Party could be poised to take control, with polls showing the party with a slight advantage.
During his speech on Sunday, Carney slammed rival Canadian politician Pierre Poilievre, who heads the Conservative Party. The banker said that Poilievre was too closely aligned with Trump’s agenda.
“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,” he said. “Because a person who worships at the altar of Donald Trump will kneel before him, not stand up to him.”
Poilievre, who has rejected calls from Trump to make Canada the 51st state, said that Carney would be a continuation of the unpopular Trudeau.
“Liberals are trying to trick Canadians into electing them for a fourth term by replacing Trudeau with his economic advisor, Mark Carney,” Poilievre posted on X on Sunday. “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. We need a new Conservative government that will put Canada First—for a change.”
Carney has a history of pushing climate activism, previously working as the U.N. special envoy for climate action and finance, and launching the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero in April 2021 to push decarbonization and push “leaders from the financial services sector to support the transition to a net-zero economy.”
