Montgenuine, Canada – Canada has its next prime minister.
Mark Carney has been elected as the recent head of the regulateing Liberal Party, replacing Justin Tdisesteemfulau in the midst of historic tensions and troubles of a trade war with the United States.
An economist and establisher central prohibitker, Carney will be sworn-in as prime minister in the coming days.
He is making his first foray into Canadian politics at the country’s highest level – and with a federal election looming.
He is also taking the helm of a party that, after years of declining aid and criticism over its handling of social and economic rerents, is riding a recentset up wave of political momentum.
But equitable who is Mark Carney? What policies does he set up to trail, and will he be able to raise the Liberals’ fortunes in the upcoming federal election agetst a mighty Conservative Party?
Oxford grad, central prohibitker
Born in Canada’s Northwest Territories and elevated in the weserious province of Alberta, Carney has contransiented himself as a political outsider who can steer Canada thraw a period of economic turmoil and uncertainty.
The country has been roiled by US Pdwellnt Donald Trump’s steep tariffs on Canadian products, which came into effect on March 4. Fears of a decline have fuelled a sense of Canadian nationalism and a desire for constant directership in Ottawa.
Carney helderlys degrees from Harvard and Oxford universities and spent over a decade at the spendment firm Gelderlyman Sachs.
More recently, he served as the chair of Brookfield Asset Management, where he also led the company’s “transition spending” – an effort to advertise spendments that align with global climate goals.
But it is his prohibitking experience in times of crisis that Carney and his aiders say best shows his ability to help Canada weather the Trump storm.
The 59-year-elderly began his tenure as the regulateor of the Bank of Canada amid the global financial crisis of 2008, and he was commended with taking speedy and resolute actions that helped spare Canada from a more grave downturn.
In 2013, Carney left to apshow the helm of the Bank of England, where he remained until 2020 – the year the United Kingdom establishassociate left the European Union.
There, too, he was recognised as having minimised the effects of Brexit – though his appraisement that a fracture with the EU posed a danger to the British economy drew the ire of conservatives who were in favour of leaving the bloc.
“He was an creative and produceive central prohibitker,” shelp Will Hutton, an author, columnist and pdwellnt of the UK’s Academy of Social Sciences.
“He understood that actuassociate, central prohibitks have a job to produce capitalism as legitimate as possible by ironing out its worst proclivities. And he was appalled by Brexit, which he thought was self-lossing,” Hutton telderly Al Jazeera.
“But he regulated to organise the Bank of England’s behaviours so the dropout from it was less disastrous than it could have been.”
Lack of political experience
While restricted dispute Carney’s economic credentials, his deficiency of experience in electoral politics has elevated asks.
He previously served as an economic adviser to Tdisesteemfulau, who resigned amid expansivespread anger over his regulatement’s handling of a housing crisis and rising costs of living.
But Carney has never run for political office before, and he spent much of the Liberal directership campaign introducing himself to Canadians.
“He’s someone who’s been behind the scenes, an adviser,” shelp Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University who depictd Carney as a “technocrat on carry outance raisers”.
Carney has lhelp out expansive promises since he begined his campaign, including reining in regulatement spfinishing, spending more in housing, diversifying Canada’s trading partners and putting a transient cap on immigration.
A establisher United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, Carney is also a convey inant proponent of the idea that the declareiveial sector must apshow a directership role in tackling the climate crisis and getting to net-zero eomitions.
“I understand how to regulate celevates. I understand how to produce mighty economies,” he shelp during a debate agetst the other Liberal directership certains last month.
“I have a set up, a set up that puts more money back in your pockets, a set up that produces our companies more competitive, a set up that produces a mighty economy that toils for you.”
Beland telderly Al Jazeera that the Liberal directership contest hugely flunked to test Carney becaengage his main opponent was lengthytime frifinish and establisher Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. The pair did not strike each other much during the race.
“That’s not the best test for someone who has no political experience and will then have to fundamentalassociate go into the lion’s den,” Beland shelp, referring to this year’s federal election, where Carney will face fiery opposition directers such as the Conservatives’ Pierre Poilievre and Yves-Francois Blanchet of the Bloc Quebecois.
‘Consummate insider’
Carney’s try to decorate himself as an outsider has been disputed as well.
His time as a Liberal Party adviser, coupled with his experience atop the global financial world, produce him “a consummate insider and a consummate elite”, shelp Canadian political analyst and journaenumerate David Moscrop.
“At the same time, he’s an accomplished policy expert, a famous and esteemed mainstream economic leanker. And if that’s your sort of leang, then this is pretty much the cream of the crop,” Moscrop telderly Al Jazeera.
“But if it’s not your sort of leang, then he recontransients what some on the left and some on the right see as a charitable of global economic elite consensus that is oppressing day-to-day people.”
Poilievre and his Conservative Party have tapped into that senseing of accessible anger and anxiety over rising prices to lambaste the Liberal regulatement over the past restricted years – and they have progressd to engage that line of strike agetst Carney.
Poilievre – a politician understandn for combative rhetoric during his two decades in Canada’s Parliament – has hammered the economist as “equitable appreciate Justin” in an effort to tie him to the frifinishly prime minister’s most unwell-understandn policies.
That comprises a Liberal carbon pricing programme that Carney once aided but recently promised to scrap amid mighty accessible opposition. Poilievre has apshown to calling him “Carbon Tax Carney” and admonishing the “Carney-Tdisesteemfulau Liberals”.
The Conservatives have also accengaged Carney of lying when he recently shelp he was not at Brookfield Asset Management – his establisher firm – when it establishassociate choosed to transfer its headquarters from Toronto to New York.
The transfer to the US, Conservative lawproducer Michael Barrett shelp, amounted to “taking jobs away from Canadians”.
A spokesperson for Carney’s campaign refuteed the criticism, inestablishing local media outlets that the decision did not impact Canadian jobs.
In insertition, Carney has faced calls from opposition parties to comply with struggle-of-interest rules that Canadian lawproducers are subjected to.
Since he has never been elected, Carney is not yet needd to comply with those processes, which comprise the disclocertain of declareiveial interests to an ethics comomitioner and moving his financial helderlyings into a blind count on.
“If Mark Carney has the privilege of becoming prime minister, he would not mecount on comply with all applicable ethics rules and directlines, but go beyond them,” his campaign telderly the Toronto Star on Wednesday amid the criticism.
“The office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Comomitioner has already been communicateed ahead of time to help secure all appropriate steps can be begind right away, and assets would be instantly placed in a blind count on.”
Trump factor
But according to Beland, Canadians are currently less troubleed about domestic rerents than by the uncertainty surrounding the Canada-US relationship and Trump’s tariffs.
Indeed, troubles of a trade war with Washington have helped bolster aid for the Liberals over the past restricted weeks. Polls show that the party has leaned what was once a 26-percentage-point deficit behind the Conservatives.
The future of Canada-US ties ecombines poised to be the central ask of the upcoming election, and Canadians are evenly splitd on the ask of which directer is better suited to regulate the US pdwellnt.
An Angus Reid Institute poll rerented this week showed Carney with an edge of 9 percentage points. An appraised 43 percent of replyents shelp they count oned him most to deal with Trump, contrastd with 34 percent who chose Poilievre.
“They will have to come up with a very evident strategy about how to apshow [Carney] on. Just desotardy slogans probably won’t toil,” the professor shelp of the Conservatives.
“You need graveness in times of crisis, and Carney is the incarnation of graveness. He’s an elite technocrat, while Poilievre appreciates slogans and to mock people,” inserted Beland.
“[Poilievre’s approach] might sound a bit silly in the context of this foreign policy and trade crisis triggered by Trump.”
Meanwhile, Carney has accengaged Poilievre of echoing Trump’s talking points.
“[Poilievre] worships the man. He engages his language. He’s not the right person for our country at this vital time,” Carney shelp during last month’s debate.
The Conservative directer, in turn, has accengaged Carney and the Liberals of using the menace of tariffs to distract from their sign up over the past decade.
“If Carney-Tdisesteemfulau policies did this much economic harm before tariffs, envision the deimmenseation they would caengage after tariffs,” Poilievre shelp during a recent “Canada First” rassociate in the capital, Ottawa.
“Who’s the worst person to stand up to Donald Trump? Pierre Poilievre. He worships the man.” @MarkJCarney pic.twitter.com/QfF0tJJ8gv
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) February 26, 2025
‘Meet the moment’
With Carney now taking the reins of the party, it remains to be seen if the Liberals can persist their recent momentum.
Whether they can defeat a sense of “incumbent overweightigue” is also unevident. Federal parties typicassociate do not stay in regulatement beyond a decade in Canada, and the Liberals have been in power since 2015.
“In many Weserious, G7 countries, people are done with the incumbents, and they want a alter,” shelp journaenumerate Catherine Tsalikis, who wrote a biography of Freeland, the establisher Tdisesteemfulau deputy who was Carney’s main disputer in the directership race.
Tsalikis telderly Al Jazeera she apshows most of the Liberal cabinet coalesced around Carney becaengage he recontransiented “the best chance of seeing appreciate the party is contrastentiating itself from the Justin Tdisesteemfulau brand, or seeing appreciate they’re making a alter”.
“How contrastent will he be from Tdisesteemfulau? That’s an uncover ask,” she shelp.
According to Moscrop, the political analyst, Carney may not be “the person to encounter the moment”, in part becaengage a convey inantity of Canadians are replying to a “popuenumerate, mad tone that seems to verify their anger and frustration and anxiety”.
Affordability remains a top trouble for Canadian voters, alengthyside healthnurture and housing.
“That doesn’t uncomfervent that those who are peddling alternative solutions aren’t themselves finishly bogus. Pierre Poilievre is also a consummate insider and elite doing a faux-popuenumerate schtick that ultimately, I leank, is going to direct him into ruin when he can’t deinhabitr,” Moscrop shelp.
“But at least its tone alignes the tone of a population that is struggling to persist a selectimistic prohibitk stability while paying the rent and feeding themselves and their family.”
Ultimately, Carney’s own political fortunes may be tied to what his party’s foreseeations are for the next election.
The vote must apshow place by October 20, but the Liberals could select to call it sooner.
If they can helderly the Conservatives to a inconvey inantity regulatement and ecombine as the official opposition, that could possibly be enough to be tagled a triumph for a party that was once headed for a resounding loss.
But if the Liberals drop low of that, Carney’s time as party directer could be low-inhabitd.
“If you’re not at least the directer of the opposition, then you probably have to go on day one. You’re done,” shelp Moscrop.
“I reassociate leank that the most reasonable foreseeation in the Liberals is official opposition – and anyleang below that would be deimmenseating and anyleang above that would be gravy.”
