Roving Periscope: Carney, Trump’s new enemy, to replace Trudeau as Canadian PM

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: Mark Carney, 59, was elected as the new Liberal Party leader on Sunday to replace Justin Trudeau as the new Canadian Prime Minister six months ahead of the scheduled parliamentary elections by October 2025. He may find his task cut out from the word go: He has to deal with US President Donald Trump, whom he had lampooned as Lord Voldemort, the chief antagonist in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

The ruling party voted him as leader on Sunday, the media reported on Monday.

While Carney will take over immediately as Liberal Party leader, Trudeau will continue as the PM for an as-yet undisclosed transitional period while his successor settles in.

Citing polling data, The New York Post said he is widely regarded as the leader best equipped to handle Trump.  

Carney, a former Goldman Sachs banker, played a key role in steering Canada through the 2008 global financial crisis during his tenure as Governor of the Bank of Canada (2008-13). Later, he became the first non-British person to head the Bank of England (2013-20) since its establishment in 1694.  In 2020, Carney was appointed as the United Nations’ Special Envoy for climate action and finance. 

As he braces to lead his fragile party into the next federal elections, he is likely to face stiff competition from the Conservative party, which is currently leading in the polls.

One of the biggest challenges he has to face is Canada’s souring relations with the United States whose President Trump has repeatedly blamed Canada for illegal immigration into the US, threatened it to turn it into the US’ 51st state, and impose steep tariffs on imports from there, which the White House says is necessary to stem the flow of fentanyl over its borders.

After his election as the new Liberal leader, Carney cited the ongoing tensions with the US, saying his government would “create new trading relationships with reliable trading partners.” He also vowed to keep retaliatory tariffs on the US “until the Americans show us respect.” “New threats demand new ideas and a new plan.”

Slamming the Trump administration’s tariff plans, Carney said of the US President, “He’s attacking Canadian families, workers, and businesses and we cannot let him succeed and we won’t.”

The ripple effects of the tense relations with the US have spread through Canadian society, with fans at NHL and NBA games in Canada even booing the US national anthem. “In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win,” he added.

Carney will now face off with Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who has previously been compared to Trump but now seeks to distance himself from the US leader, reiterating at a press conference earlier this week that he is “not MAGA.”

At a rally on Sunday ahead of the Liberal vote, Poilievre delivered scathing remarks about Carney, portraying him as a leader ill-equipped to deal with Trump.

“Working for Trudeau, Carney made Canada weaker and poorer; working for himself Carney made the United States richer and stronger,” Poilievre said.

Trudeau led his party for over a decade. He took the Liberals to power in 2015, promising “sunny ways” for Canada and was elected two more times, most recently in 2021, when he remained in power but lost his governing majority.

His impending departure follows a series of political crises, rising economic discontent and the surprise resignation of his Deputy PM and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland – who was also in the race to succeed him.

Trudeau warned on Sunday that Canadians face an “existential challenge” from the US. “This is a nation-defining moment,” he told the party leadership convention in Ottawa, ahead of Carney being announced as his successor.

“And now, as Canadians face from our neighbor an existential challenge, an economic crisis, Canadians are showing exactly what we are made of,” Trudeau said.

Since the US tariffs were announced in February, Carney has been an outspoken proponent of dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs that would hit the US hard but have minimal impact on Canada.

After Trump’s tariff announcement and accusations of fentanyl trafficking from Canada into the US, Carney told CNN last month he was “offended” given Canada’s long friendship with the US.

“We are a proud, independent nation. We view ourselves as the greatest country on Earth. We have been insulted on multiple occasions by senior members of the administration. We are not going to reciprocate in those insults.” 

Last month, Carney reacted to Trump’s suggestion that Canada could become the 51st state of the US. “When you think about what’s at stake in these ridiculous, insulting comments of the President, of what we could be, I view this as the sort of Voldemort of comments,” Carney had said.   

“Like I will not even repeat it, but you know what I’m talking about,” he told supporters. 

He took a firm stance on trade, advocating for retaliatory tariffs on the US. “Canada will not bow down to a bully,” he said last week.  

Trudeau announced to step down in January following a turbulent period in Canadian politics, during which his former finance minister accused him of not taking tariff threats seriously.