OTTAWA - Mark Carney was preparing to be sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister on Friday morning, taking charge of a country rattled by a breakdown in relations with its big neighbour since US President Donald Trump’s return to power.
The ruling Liberal Party overwhelmingly backed Carney to replace Justin Trudeau, betting his experience leading two central banks through historic crises will re-assure Canadians facing a potentially devastating trade war.
Carney, who turns 60 on Sunday, is a political novice who has never won an elected public office but his campaign skills will be tested soon with Canada likely headed for a general election in weeks.
The threats posed by Trump are expected to dominate the vote.
The US president has sought to bludgeon Canada, imposing sweeping import tariffs and threatening further levies while claiming the country is not “viable” on its own and should be annexed by Washington.
Carney, who was to be sworn in at 11am in Ottawa as Canada’s 24th prime minister by Governor General Mary Simon, has described Trump’s stance as the most serious challenge Canada has faced in a generation.
“Everything in my life has prepared me for this moment,” Carney said on Sunday after winning the Liberal Party leadership race.
He was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs before serving as governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008-09 financial crisis and led the Bank of England through the turmoil surrounding the Brexit vote.
He has sought to present himself as purpose-built to lead a country through a trade war with the United States, once Canada’s closest ally but now a country that Carney says Canada can “no longer trust.”
At a Group of Seven meeting in Quebec, Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said Carney would bring a “new dynamic” to US diplomacy.
She said she and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is at the G7, were working on setting up a call between Trump and Carney “in the next couple of days.”
Tightening race
Trump’s tariffs and insults have upended Canadian politics.
At the start of the year, the Liberals were trailing the Conservatives by 20 points in the polls.
But in the weeks since Trudeau announced his plans to resign on January 6, the race has tightened to a near draw.
“Carney is arriving at a good time. He has emerged as a figure people seem to trust to take on Donald Trump,” University of Winnipeg politics professor Felix Mathieu told AFP.
On the week Trump’s sweeping 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports came into force, Carney visited a steel plant in Hamilton, an industrial city near the US border in the province of Ontario.
Wearing a hard hat and goggles, Carney said he was ready to work out a trade deal with Trump.
But he insisted there must be “respect for Canadian sovereignty” in any negotiation.
Distance from Trudeau
Trudeau posted a goodbye message to Canadians on Thursday after nearly ten years in power, saying he was “proud to have served a country full of people who stand up for what’s right.”
Trudeau’s support had plummeted over the past year, but his standing partially rebounded following a series of resolute speeches in response to Trump.
Carney has made clear efforts to distance himself from Trudeau with moves aimed at attracting more centrist voters.
He has said addressing climate change will be a top priority but he is scrapping Trudeau’s “divisive” carbon tax on individuals and families while advancing market-led solutions.
And he is stopping a tax on capital gains that would have applied to the wealthiest Canadians, which the Trudeau government said was essential to shore up Canada’s finances.
“We think builders should be incentivized for taking risks and rewarded when they succeed,” he said on Sunday.