Mark Carney has won the race to succeed Justin Trudeau as Canada’s prime minister. He vows to win the trade war against US President Donald Trump as he takes charge of the country at a time of deep instability.
The former governor of the Canadian Central Bank and Bank of England beat three rivals in the Liberal Party’s leadership contest in a landslide.
Carney, 59, replaces Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January but remains prime minister until his successor is sworn in in the coming days. Carney won in a landslide, winning 85.9 percent of the vote.
In much of his victory speech, Carney, 59, attacked Trump, who has imposed tariffs on Canada and said he wants to make the country the 51st US state. “Americans should make no mistake,” he said. “In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.”
Carney is expected to be sworn in as PM in the coming days and will lead the Liberals in the next general election, which is expected to be called in the coming weeks.
Much of Carney’s speech focused on Trump’s “unjustified tariffs” on Canada, America’s largest trading partner.
The US imposed levies of 25 percent on Canadian goods last Tuesday but rowed back within days to exempt goods compliant with an existing trade agreement.
Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs of its own as Trudeau accused his US counterpart of trying to collapse the country’s economy.
Carney echoed that in his victory speech, saying Trump was “attacking Canadian workers, families, and businesses”.
“We can’t let him succeed,” he added, as the crowd booed loudly.
Canada’s economy depends significantly on trade with the US and risks tipping into recession if the sweeping tariffs threatened by Trump are fully imposed.
“I know these are dark days,” Carney said. “Dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust.
“We’re getting over the shock, but let us never forget the lessons: we have to look after ourselves and we have to look out for each other. We need to pull together in the tough days ahead.”
He said his government would keep tariffs on US imports “until the Americans show us respect”.
Trump’s trade war and his talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state have infuriated Canadians, who are booing the American anthem at NHL and NBA games. Some are canceling trips south of the border, and many are avoiding buying American goods when they can.
The surge in Canadian nationalism has bolstered the Liberal Party’s chances in a parliamentary election expected within days or weeks, and Liberal showings have been improving steadily in opinion polls.
“The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country. Think about it. If they succeed they would destroy our way of life,” Carney said. “In America health care is big business. In Canada it is a right.”
Carney said America is “a melting pot. Canada is mosaic,” he said. “America is not Canada. And Canada will never, ever will be a part of America in any way, shape or form.”
