Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada, is launching a bid to replace Trudeau | Politics News

Mark Carney, the former head of the Bank of Canada, has officially entered the race to replace Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister leader of the ruling Liberal Party.

Carney kicked off his party leadership campaign at a rally in Edmonton, capital of the western Canadian province of Alberta, on Thursday afternoon.

“I’m back home in Edmonton to announce my candidacy for leader of the Liberal Party and prime minister of Canada,” Carney said, surrounded by supporters and Liberal MPs.

The 59-year-old is considered one of the favorites in the race to replace Trudeau. He was previously governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013, before taking the helm of the Bank of England until 2020.

Trudeau, who announced that he did stepping back in early January, amid increasing pressure and falling public support, he will remain in that position until the party elects his successor in early March.

The Liberals are hoping the new leader will help boost their prospects ahead of an election that must be held before the end of October.

Recent surveys of the upcoming election show the opposition Conservative Party leading by more than 20 percentage points over the Liberals, who are facing mounting anger as many Canadians grapple with an affordability crisis.

The Liberal government was too under pressure to fend off United States President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose steep, 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods when the Republican leader takes office next week.

Carney, who has tried to position himself as a political outsider, said Thursday that his leadership bid comes at a critical time for the country.

“Too many are lagging behind. Too many young people cannot afford a home. “Too many people can’t find a doctor,” he said.

“And on top of that … in just four days, the United States will swear in Donald Trump as its 47th president, a man who threatens economic force against its closest, staunchest allies, including Canada.”

Carney also criticized Pierre Poilievrethe head of the Conservative Party, who is widely expected to become the country’s next prime minister after this year’s elections.

“‘Canada is broken’ was one of Pierre Poilievre’s many three-word slogans, and it couldn’t be more dangerous,” Carney said.

“The Conservatives aren’t running around saying Canada is broken because they want to fix it. They want permission to demolish and destroy,” he continued. “Their three-word sound bites won’t solve problems, but they will hurt ordinary people.”

Poilievre, right-wing populist who was first elected to Canada’s parliament in 2004, attacked Carney as a supporter of the Trudeau government’s carbon pricing policy, which charges for carbon emissions.

He called the economist the “carbon tax Carney” and vowed to scrap the policy if elected.

Poilievre echoed that theme in response to Carney’s announcement on Thursday, again linking the Liberal leader to the unpopular Trudeau government as well as the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP).

“Carbon tax Carney backed increase in NDP-Liberal gas tax, heating [and] groceries”, Poilievre wrote on social media platform X on Thursday. “Just. Like. Justin.”

Conservatives also dismissed the idea that Carney was an outsider, noting in statement that he served as an economic adviser to the Liberal government under Trudeau.

“As a long-time Liberal insider … Carbon Tax Carney is as far from an outsider as you can get,” the party said. “It’s clear that the carbon tax Carney and the Liberals will say anything to try to hold on to power. But they cannot be trusted.”

Carbon Tax Carney backed an increase in the NDP-Liberal tax on gas, heating and groceries, FOUR-HANDING it all the way to $0.61/L.

Only. As. Justin. pic.twitter.com/MEWQdQKPwb

— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) January 16, 2025

The Liberal Party will elect its new leader – and therefore the next prime minister – on March 9, just weeks before parliament reconvenes on March 24.

However, it is not clear how long the new prime minister will be in office.

The Conservatives and other opposition parties have said they plan to launch a motion of no confidence in the Liberal government, which would trigger an election.

In addition to Carney, Liberal MP Chandra Arya and businessman Frank Baylis have formally entered the Liberal leadership race.

But the contest is expected to come down to Carney and the former Canadian finance minister Chrystia Freelanda longtime Trudeau ally who resigned from his cabinet in late December.

Freeland, who has yet to formally announce her campaign, dropped out because of what she said was a disagreement with Trudeau over how to handle Trump’s threat of tariffs.

She teased her leadership bid in a social media post on Wednesday, saying she’ll “have a lot more to say soon!”.

The fifth cup of tea and the calls don’t stop — we’re grateful for the opportunity to hear from you and hear your ideas, fellow liberals!

I will have much more to say soon! pic.twitter.com/miGcmgtzfk

— Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) January 15, 2025