Mark Carney will become Canada’s next prime minister after winning the liberal leadership race

Mark Carney wins the liberal leadership race and soon becomes Canada’s next prime minister once Justin Trudeau resigns from the role.

Former central banker, Carney won the leadership race on March 9th in his first vote.

Second place was former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Christia Freeland’s 8.0% of votes, with former Minister Karina Gould with 3.2% of votes and former liberal MP Frank Bayliss with 3.0%.

Trudeau announced plans to resign on January 6th, saying that he would resign as prime minister and Liberal Party leaders if a new leader is selected by the party.

He said last week that the exact date he will leave the top role will be determined between him and the new leader.

As Canada needs to hold a federal election this year, Carney’s leadership will be tested in a short period of time as he competes with other federal parties to win the election.

Winning speech

In his victory speech, Carney said he would work “day and night” and build “a Canada that is powerful for everyone.”

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“I feel that everything in my life has prepared me for this moment,” he said at a liberal leadership event in Ottawa. He also thanked Trudeau, saying that he “combines strength and compassion every day as a Canadian fighter.”

As with the two-month leadership campaign, his speech focused on US tariffs and President Donald Trump’s comments that he hopes Canada is part of the United States. He also focused on criticizing rival Conservative leader Pierre Poilierble.

During the campaign, Carney said he heard from Canadians that he was worried about the cost of living, housing issues and “the future of Canada faced with the threat of President Trump.”

Carney said Trump has imposed “unfair tariffs” on Canada and “attacking Canadian families, workers and businesses.” He said he supports retaliation measures from the Trudeau government and the state.

“My government will maintain tariffs until Americans show respect for us,” Carney said. “Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country. If they succeed, they will destroy our way of life.”

Trump has said Canada is using trade ties with the US, and that tariffs are intended to address these concerns, not enough to stop the flow of illegal immigration and fentanyl to the US through the border.

Speaking about his own policies, Carney said his government would remove the “splitting” consumer carbon tax and both would halt the capital gains tax hike introduced by the Trudeau government. Kearney said he wanted to make a change “put more money in people’s pockets.”

Focusing on Polyave’s rivals, Carney said Trump’s leaders will also “weak” the economy. Emphasizing his own focus on climate change policies, he said Poilierbre had rebuffed the CBC and criticised him for hoping to be a “lifetime” politician, saying that he would “burn our planet.”

“I care about the economy, but that’s not because I’m an economist, but because I care about people,” Carney said.

The conservatives held their own event in Ottawa on the same day, with Polyavel targeting Kearney during his speech.

Carney said he left the company by the time the move occurred, but conservatives released a letter when he advised shareholders of the move, indicating that he was still the chairman. Kearney said in a comment on the issue that it should have been “more accurate.”

“We oppose a lot of ideas, priorities and policies, but we should always be united to protect our country from the threat posed by Donald Trump,” Singh said.

Yves François Blanchett, leader of Brock Quebecoa, also congratulated Carney with outstanding language.

Opposition parties said they intend to voting non-confidence in the minority Liberal government to trigger an election sooner.

The House of Representatives is currently suspended until March 24th, and after Trudeau asked the Governor to Prolog Congress on January 6th, he announced plans to step down and begin a liberal leadership race.

Past roles

Carney becomes the prime minister who currently does not hold a seat in Parliament, which is a rare event. In 1984, liberal Prime Minister John Turner also took the top position after winning the liberal leadership race following Pierre Trudeau’s resignation without holding a seat in Congress at the time.

Even more unusual, Carney will become the first prime minister who has never served an elected official role in Canadian history.

Carney served as the Bank of Canada governor from 2008 to 2013, and then became the Bank of England governor until 2020.

He left the role in the central bank, worked on many committees and served as executive roles in financial companies before becoming more active in the private sector. Similarly, he became a UN special envoy on climate action and finances. He said he resigned from all these roles in January when he began his leadership bid.

Kearney said he will focus on the economy as prime minister, and said he plans to cut taxes for the middle class and reduce government spending.

One of Carney’s main focuses is climate change policy. He said he would remove the carbon tax for unpopular consumers and replace it with an incentive model.

He also says that while working to diversify Canada’s export markets, he will work to remove inter-prone trade barriers and respond to US tariffs.

Carney, who holds British and Ireland citizenship, said he has begun a process of waiving both citizenship.

Carney informed the Canadian government about the economic response during the pandemic and was formally appointed as the Liberal Party’s economic advisor in September 2024.

The teacher’s son, Kearney, was born at Fort Smith in Northwest Territories and grew up in Edmonton. He received his PhD in Economics from Oxford and a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.

Trudeau’s speech

Once Carney becomes prime minister, it would end Trudeau’s nine-plus-year federal government.

Trudeau won the liberals from third place to the majority government in 2015, winning two elections in 2019 and 2021, but his government was reduced to minority.

He announced his resignation in January after extensive public appeals from within the Caucus amid a decline in vote counts and a weak liberal show.

The Leadership Choice event included a homage to Trudeau, with her daughter Ella Grace introducing him on stage.

“As your leader, as your prime minister, I did my level best every day to build a country worthy of all Canadians,” Trudeau said in an emotional speech.

Trudeau said he looks forward to spending more time with his family and is proud of what his party has accomplished while he was in power.

Trudeau said his government focused on supporting the middle class and “people who work hard to participate” and refused to believe in “the false choice between a strong economy and a healthy environment.” He also spoke about his focus on diversity in his party and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

“We are a country that accepts reconciliation and Indigenous people as true partners,” he said. “We are a country that always defends women’s right to choose.”

He also took an indirect jab on the Americans, saying his liberals knew about the “fight against the grit.”

“We are a country that will be as diplomatic as possible, but we fight when we have to raise our elbows,” he said.

Trudeau also took a shot at Poilierble under the liberals, who said, “I feel like everything’s broken in this country right now.”

Trudeau said his party is dedicated to improving Canada. “Not because we think it’s broken, but because we have the opportunity and therefore our responsibility to ensure Canada remains the best country on the planet.”

The event also featured a speech by former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in honor of Trudeau.

“I want to pay tribute to him by taking the Liberals from third place to the government and challenging them to win three elections,” Chretien said. “I want to pay tribute to what he and his team have accomplished.”