Mark Carney to Donald Trump: ‘Canada never, ever will be part of America’

OTTAWA — Mark Carney, a political rookie but experienced banker with a history of helming state financial institutions during crises, won the race to replace Justin Trudeau on Sunday. The new Liberal Party leader arrives with a colossal task at the top of his to-do list: Defend Canada from Donald Trump.

“America is not Canada. And Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape or form,” Carney said in his victory speech. “We didn’t ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves.”

Members of Canada’s governing Liberal Party elected Carney in a landslide on the first ballot Sunday at an Ottawa convention center, steps away from Parliament Hill. He will officially take over as Canada’s 24th prime minister during a swearing-in ceremony in the days ahead.

The political landscape in Canada has been upended by the return of Trump, and for the first time in years, the governing Liberals are ascendant. One of Carney’s first decisions will be whether or not to call a snap election in the middle of a trade war. He has identified Trump’s rolling tariff threats as an “economic and sovereign crisis.”

“The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country,” Carney said. “Think about it. If they succeed, they will destroy our way of life.”

During his farewell speech, Trudeau said Canada is in a nation-defining moment. “Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given. Even Canada is not a given,” he said.

Carney campaigned for the top job on his reputation as a disaster manager, arguing that he is the right person to take on Trump. He ran for the leadership against former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who has warned that how Canada deals with the president “will define us for a generation, and perhaps longer.”

Trump now tops the list of things Canadians are worried about, followed by jobs, inflation and the economy. About 90 percent of Canadians live within 150 miles of the U.S. border, and polls show the country of 40 million is increasingly angry at the U.S. president, who can’t seem to stop talking about annexing Canada.

Carney, who served as governor of central banks in Canada and the U.K., favors dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs. He has promised one of his first tasks as prime minister will be to put Trump “on notice” about U.S. dependence on Canadian energy. Like Trudeau, he has warned that all cards are on the table when it comes to cutting supplies.

Carney takes over the Liberal Party at a turbulent time. The trade war with the United States threatens to stunt economic growth and send Canada into a recession. Carney also inherits a longstanding housing crisis and an inflation hangover that continues to squeeze household budgets.

During the campaign, he presented himself as a hard negotiator who can stop the president from his goal of “dominating the hemisphere” by taking Canada and Greenland. He also promised to protect “language, culture and water” from Trump’s grasp.

This isn’t the first time Carney has had public conflicts with Trump. In 2018, as governor of the Bank of England, he boldly criticized Trump tariff policies, arguing in a speech it would hurt the world’s economy.

And in 2020, during a speech in Davos, he aligned himself with activist Greta Thunberg on climate policy, clashing with Trump’s own views.

Trudeau has led the Liberals since 2013. In January he announced he would step down once a new leader was chosen, despite his own inclination to stay on and seek a fourth term. He was compelled to resign following a caucus revolt that was ignited by a steady decline in the polls.

The Liberal Party has largely rallied around Carney, arguing his economic experience on the world stage comes at a right moment for Canada. His network of contacts extends from Davos to the G20.

As Bank of Canada governor, Carney helped shepherd the country through a recession during the 2008 financial crash, and steered the U.K. through Brexit as the country’s central banker in 2020. He recently served as U.N. special envoy on climate action and finance, and got his start at Goldman Sachs.

There is growing anticipation that Carney is poised to call an early election.

In January, Parliament was put on pause so the Liberals could replace their leader. It’s set to return March 24, unless a snap election is called.

Trudeau has said he has no interest in staying on as prime minister during a caretaker period should there be an immediate election. “I look forward to a transition to my duly elected successor in the coming days or weeks,” he said on Thursday.

Heading into a federal election campaign could be advantageous for the Liberal Party, which has failed to connect with voters following the Covid-19 pandemic and years of stubborn inflation that coalesced with a shortage of housing and high immigration levels.

Trump’s tariffs have ignited a Liberal surge in opinion polls, showing a horse race is brewing between the Liberals and Conservative Party of Canada, who are dealing with a rapid decline in public support. Polling aggregator 338Canada shows the Liberals trailing the Conservatives by just 6 points, against a 25-point deficit before Trudeau’s resignation.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been forced to explain to voters he’s not aligned with all the opinions of the MAGA movement, as the Liberal Party attempts to draw comparisons between his and Trump’s populist agenda.

Carney helped reenergize a party that had lost political hope under Trudeau, who led the party since 2013. About 400,000 people recently signed up to become Liberal Party members, and the party says it recently saw one of its best fundraising efforts from grassroots donors.

Even ministers and caucus members who announced they wouldn’t seek reelection are changing their mind, believing once again their party has a shot at winning a fourth government term.