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In a blowout win, Liberal Party members have chosen former central bank governor Mark Carney as their new leader and the next prime minister of Canada.
Carney, who does not hold a seat in the House of Commons and has never been elected, secured more than 85 per cent of the points — handily winning on the first count. He also dominated in all 343 ridings, showing he has Liberal support across the country.
While Carney was long perceived as the front-runner, even members of his camp said they were surprised by the resounding results Sunday evening.
Former finance minister and current MP Chrystia Freeland finished in a distant second, with eight per cent of the points, in a result that elicited gasps in the room. According to the riding-by-riding breakdown, Carney even swept her Toronto riding of University-Rosedale.
Former House leader and current MP Karina Gould came third with 3.2 per cent of the points, and Montreal business leader and former MP Frank Baylis finished slightly behind in fourth.
Prime minister-designate Mark Carney delivers his victory speech at the Liberal leadership convention in Ottawa.
‘I felt we needed big changes’
Walking on stage to the song Crier tout bas by Montreal artist Coeur de Pirate, Carney told a crowd of cheering supporters that “everything in my life has prepared me for this moment.”
“Two months ago, I put my hand up to run for leader because I felt we needed big changes, guided by strong Canadian values,” said the prime minister-designate.
“My parents were teachers, and they stressed the importance of hard work, of community and of tolerance,” he said.
“My coaches were dedicated volunteers who taught me the importance of teamwork, ambition — and because it’s Canada — humility.”
The former Bank of Canada governor’s win not only represents a new chapter for the Liberals but could signal an imminent federal election.
Carney will become prime minister after being sworn in by the Governor General. Earlier this week, outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he expects the transition to happen “in the coming days or week.”
Carney, 59, pitched himself as an outsider seeking the top job, happily telling supporters he’d meet throughout the campaign that he is proudly not a politician.
His first few days in office are bound to be defined by chaos. Carney takes over during ongoing negotiations with the United States to lift tariffs on goods. U.S. President Donald Trump has cast uncertainty over the Canadian economy as he enacts, then walks back, steep tariffs on some Canadian goods.
During the leadership convention in Ottawa on Sunday evening, president of the Liberal Party of Canada Sachit Mehra announced Mark Carney as the new leader of the party with over 85 per cent of the vote.
In his acceptance speech, Carney promised his government will keep Canada’s tariffs on “until the Americans show us respect.” All proceeds raised through tariffs will be used to help workers, he said.
“We didn’t ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves,” he said. “So Americans should make no mistake. In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.”
Central to Carney’s pitch to Liberal voters was his time leading not one but two central banks in the G7 during economic uncertainty
He was appointed as Bank of Canada governor in 2008 by former Conservative leader Stephen Harper’s government at the onset of the financial crisis. During the global economic calamity, Carney aggressively dropped interest rates, took steps to ensure Canadian banks had enough liquidity to operate and called for widespread reforms to the world’s financial system.
How Mark Carney went from his upbringing in Alberta to central banker in tough economic times, and now leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and prime minister-designate.
Those actions won him international acclaim for playing a key role in helping Canada weather the crisis, although Harper — as part of a recent Conservative fundraising push — suggested Carney has taken too much credit.
Carney went on to lead the Bank of England and stayed on during a tumultuous time for the U.K. as it navigated Brexit and the resulting economic fallout. Carney was the first non-Briton to hold the position since the United Kingdom’s central bank was established in 1694.
Born in Fort Smith, N.W.T., and raised in Edmonton, Harvard-educated Carney had a 13-year career with Goldman Sachs in its London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto offices before joining the federal public service.
More recently he served as a United Nations special envoy on climate action and worked for the investment firm Brookfield Asset Management.
Carney says Poilievre ‘would let our planet burn’
Leaning on that background, Carney dedicated a chunk of his speech to attacking the man he will soon face off against in a general election campaign: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
“He’s that type of lifelong politician — and I have seen them around the world — who worships at the altar of the free market, despite never having made a payroll,” Carney said, as he set the stage for future attacks against his political rival.
“Pierre Poilievre would let our planet burn. That’s not leadership, it’s ideology,” he said. “Poilievre’s plan will leave us divided and ready to be conquered. Because a person who worships at the altar of Donald Trump will kneel before him, not stand up to him.”
Poilievre hosted his own rally in London, Ont., earlier Sunday, and used the opportunity to throw a few punches.
“Make no mistake: Donald Trump will have a big smile on his face as he exploits all of Carney’s many conflicts to attack Canadian workers and Canadian jobs.”
In a statement after Carney’s win, the opposition leader said the Liberals “think they can trick Canadians into re-electing them for a fourth term by replacing Justin Trudeau with Mark Carney.”
In a social media post, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh congratulated Carney on his win.
“Canadians are counting on their political leaders to fight for them in these challenging times. To stand up for a Canada where we take care of each other,” he said.
“We will disagree on many ideas, priorities and policies — but we should always stand united in protecting our country from the threat posed by Donald Trump.”
Front-runner from the start
Even before he put his name in the running, Carney was seen as the one to beat. Throughout the campaign, he secured the most caucus support, raised the most money and was the clear target of attack from the Conservative opposition.
Once a proponent of carbon pricing, Carney has since campaigned on scrapping the consumer carbon tax, Trudeau’s marquee environmental policy.
The relatively short leadership race was triggered when Trudeau announced in early January his intention to step down. The decision came following a growing caucus revolt and the resignation of Freeland from cabinet.
At the time, the party was in a deep polling slump, trailing Poilievre’s Conservatives by more than 20 points. Recent polling suggests the Liberals are bouncing back. Carney will be under pressure to sustain that trend.
Speeches from Trudeau, Chrétien
That momentum had the Liberal convention buzzing Sunday, well before Carney was announced the winner.
In one of his final speeches as prime minister, a sometimes emotional Trudeau told the crowd he is “damn proud” of what the party has accomplished over the last decade.
As the Liberals enter a new era, “this is a nation-defining moment,” Trudeau told the cheering crowd.
“Your country needs you now more than ever,” he told the crowd. “Liberals will meet this moment.”
Trudeau’s teenage daughter Ella-Grace, introduced her father, telling the crowd she’s looking forward to his retirement from politics and seeing him more at home — and less on her social media.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking at the Liberal Party’s leadership convention in Ottawa on Sunday, says ‘this is a nation-defining moment.’
Trudeau was followed by Liberal statesman and former prime minister Jean Chrétien, who took the crowd back to 1776, when Benjamin Franklin travelled to Montreal to try to drum up support for the American Revolution.
“He was told by the francophone, ‘non merci,'” Chrétien said.
Chrétien, 91, said his Liberal Party gave Canada the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the two official languages, tough gun control and gay marriage.
“It is the Liberal Party that gave us the red Maple Leaf flag 60 years ago, which flew so proudly in homes across our country,” he said.
What happens now?
Because Carney does not have a seat in the House of Commons, there’s speculation he will trigger an early election to see if he can secure a mandate from the Canadian public.
After Trudeau formally resigns and Carney is sworn in at Rideau Hall, the new leader will need to name a cabinet.
Carney will also need to hire his inner circle, including a chief of staff and key advisers. A source with knowledge of the Carney team’s plans who was not authorized to speak publicly said work is also underway to transition the Prime Minister’s Office.
Speaking to reporters on the floor of the convention, Freeland said Carney, who is her son’s godfather, has her support and the new Liberal leader “has a very clear mandate” to helm the party.
Freeland told reporters in French that she will run in the next federal election. Asked about a potential future in Carney’s cabinet, Freeland said it’s up to him to decide on his cabinet.
Though her run was unsuccessful, Freeland told reporters she had expected an uphill battle and that “it’s been an opportunity for me to really talk about and lay out plans on the issues that are most important.”
Gould, who has also committed to running again, called for the party to come together now that the race is over.
Source: cbc
