Carney, who is not an MP himself and has never held elected office, takes charge of both the federal government and the Liberal Party, which has dominated national politics for decades. An election is slated for October when Carney will face Conservative Party head Pierre Poilievre. Poilievre has been an outspoken critic of the Liberals over their backing of the carbon tax and the poor results on easing Canada's very tight housing market.
The background of the new PM is mostly in banking. He was the head of the Bank of England during Brexit and also saw Canada through the 2008 global economic crash. As he takes office, he faces increasing tensions with the US, where President Donald Trump has threatened high and retaliatory tariffs against the northern neighbor.
Border security in terms of both illegal immigration and the drug trade have been foremost in Trump's critique of Canada, and he has repeatedly called for Canada to join the US as the "51st state." This rhetoric threatening Canada's sovereignty has not gone over well, nor have the tariffs. Many stores could be seen pulling American goods from shelves in a nationalist protest.
Outgoing prime minister Trudeau threw his support behind Carney, as has his Cabinet, more than half of the Liberal Party. Chrystia Freeland, who served as Trudeau's deputy prime minister, was Carney's main challenger, but in the end, Carney won the support of his party with 85 percent of their vote.
In Canada's Parliamentary system, the ruling party selects the prime minister. In this case, Carney came into power with 151,899 Liberal Party votes. Freeland took 8 percent of the total while two other candidates split the remaining 3 percent.
Carney took on Trump in his victory speech, saying "There’s someone who’s trying to weaken our economy. Donald Trump, as we know, unjustified tariffs on what we build, what we sell, and how we make a living. He’s attacking Canadian workers, families and business. We cannot let him succeed, and we won’t. I’m proud of the response of Canadians making their voices heard and wallets felt."
"Donald Trump is trying to weaken our economy, but there’s someone else who if he succeeds, will weaken our economy," Carney said, taking aim at his Conservative opposition. "It’s Pierre Poilievre. Pierre Poilievre just doesn’t get it. He is the type of lifelong politician, and I’ve seen this type around the world, he worships at the altar of the free market despite never having made a payroll himself. And now, in the face of President Trump’s threats, Poilievre still refuses to get his security clearance.
"At a time where our national security is under threat in a way it’s never been before. In a time of immense economic insecurity, he would undermine the Bank of Canada. He called for the closing of CBC when foreign interference is on the march. He insults our mayors and ignores our First Nations when its time to build and will put an end to international aid when democracy and human rights are in danger across the world. He will also let our planet burn."
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