Former central banker Mark Carney won the election to lead Canada’s ruling Liberal Party and will succeed Justin Trudeau as prime minister, according to official results released on Sunday.
Carney will take over at a challenging time in Canada, which is embroiled in a trade battle with longstanding ally the United States under President Donald Trump and faces a looming general election.
Carney, 59, won 86% of the vote over former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in a fight with just under 152,000 party members voting.
“There’s someone who’s trying to weaken our economy,” Carney said of Trump, spurring loud boos at the party gathering. “He’s attacking Canadian workers, families, and businesses. We can’t let him succeed.”
“This won’t be business as usual,” Carney said. “We will have to do things that we haven’t imagined before, at speeds we didn’t think possible.”
Trudeau announced in January that he would step down after more than nine years in power as his approval rating nosedived, forcing the ruling Liberal Party to run a quick contest to replace him.
“Make no mistake, this is a nation-defining moment. Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given. Even Canada is not a given,” Trudeau stated.
Carney, a political rookie, claimed that he was best suited to resuscitate the party and lead trade talks with Trump, who has threatened more tariffs that could destroy Canada’s export-dependent economy.
In retaliation to tariffs imposed by Trump on Canada, Trudeau placed retaliatory tariffs of C$30 billion on the United States.
“My government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect,” Carney said.
Carney’s victory represents the first time in Canadian history that an outsider with no political experience has been elected prime minister.
He has stated that his expertise as the first person to serve as governor of two G7 central banks, Canada and England, made him the strongest option to deal with Trump.
The hope of a new beginning for the Liberal Party under Carney, along with Trump’s tariffs and frequent threats to annex Canada as the 51st U.S. state, resulted in a stunning recovery of Liberal fortunes.
At the start of 2025, the party trailed by 20 or more points, but some polls currently show it tied with the official opposition Conservatives, led by veteran politician Pierre Poilievre.
On Sunday, dozens of Canadians protested outside Canada’s Parliament building in Ottawa, holding posters against Trump that made no mention of domestic politics.
“There is a rallying-around-the-flag moment that we would never have predicted a year ago,” said University of British Columbia politics professor Richard Johnston. “I think it’s probably true as we speak that the Liberals have been saved from oblivion.”
Polls, however, show that neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives would be able to form a majority administration. An election must be held before October 20.
Two Liberal Party sources predicted Carney would announce an election in the coming weeks, which might happen much sooner.
Carney might technically serve as prime minister without a seat in the House of Commons, but tradition suggests that he seek one as quickly as feasible.
Liberals attempted to connect Conservative leader Poilievre to Trump in a recent advertisement. Poilievre, in turn, escalated his attacks on Carney on Sunday.
