Canada to name a new leader while dealing with Trump trade war

Former central banker Mark Carney looks set to become Canada’s next prime minister after the governing Liberals announce a replacement for Justin Trudeau on Sunday

Canada to name a new leader while dealing with Trump trade war

Liberal Party of Canada leadership candidates Karina Gould, Frank Baylis, Chrystia Freeland and Mark Carney greet one another prior to the English-language Liberal Leadership debate in Montreal on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

TORONTO -- TORONTO (AP) — Canada looks set to pick a measured former central banker to deal with the threats President Donald Trump's tariffs pose against a pillar of Western free trade.

Mark Carney, 59, could become the next prime minister when the governing Liberal Party of Canada announces a replacement for Justin Trudeau in a leadership vote Sunday.

The opposition Conservatives hoped to make the election about Trudeau, whose popularity declined as food and housing prices rose and immigration surged. Trudeau announced his resignation in January but remains prime minister until a successor is chosen. Election laws mandate a vote before October but one is expected sooner.

Trump’s trade war and his talk of making Canada the 51st state have infuriated Canadians, who are booing the American anthem at NHL and NBA games. Some are cancelling trips south and many are avoiding buying American goods when they can.

The surge in Canadian nationalism has bolstered the Liberal Party’s chances in Parliamentary elections that are expected within days or weeks, and Liberal showings have been improving steadily in opinion polls.

After decades of bilateral stability, the vote on Canada’s next leader now is expected to focus on who is best equipped to deal with the United States.

Carney navigated crises when he was the head of Canada’s central bank and when he became the first non-citizen to run the Bank of England since it was founded in 1694.

His appointment won bipartisan praise in Britain after Canada recovered from the 2008 financial crisis faster than many other countries.

Carney is credited with keeping money flowing through the Canadian economy by acting quickly in cutting interest rates to their lowest level ever of 1%, working with bankers to sustain lending through the crisis and, critically, letting the public know rates would remain low so they would keep borrowing.

And it wasn’t just that he had good policies — he sold them to the public in a way everyone could understand. He was the first central banker to commit to keep them at a historic low for a definite time, a step the U.S. Federal Reserve would follow.

Carney has picked up one endorsement after another from Cabinet ministers and members of Parliament since declaring his candidacy in January.

The other top Liberal leadership candidate is former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. Trudeau told Freeland in December he no longer wanted her as finance minister, but that she could remain deputy prime minister and the point person for U.S.-Canada relations. Freeland resigned shortly after, releasing a scathing letter about the government that proved to be the last straw for Trudeau.

Three points turned the leadership race into a runaway for Carney. Freeland had a long association with the unpopular Trudeau. Carney worked hard to gather support from Liberal members of Parliament members. And Trump’s tariff fixation was also pivotal, said Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto.

“Liberal backbenchers feared losing their seats and knew that Carney was more electable as their leader than Freeland,” Wiseman said.

The Liberal Party members will pick a new leader in a secret vote by about 140,000 members that will be announced on Sunday. The new leader is expected to trigger an election shortly afterward. Either the new Liberal party leader will call one, or the opposition parties in Parliament could force one with a no-confidence vote this month.

Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said Carney’s calm demeanor and outstanding resume make him a reassuring figure to many Canadians at a time when Trump is going after their country’s economy and sovereignty.

Béland said that style and profile stands in strong contrast to the Conservative Party's Pierre Poilievre, whom he called a true career politician who has embraced a populist rhetoric not unlike Trump's.

Poilievre, 45, for years the party’s go-to attack dog, is a firebrand populist who says he will to put “Canada first.” He attacks the mainstream media and vows to defund Canada’s public broadcaster and cut taxes.

“That works with his base but that is not welcomed by other Canadians, especially considering what the U.S. president is now saying about, and doing to, their country,” Béland said.

Poilievre urged Trump on Friday stop the attacks on Canada and “the monthly melodrama that is hurting our economies on both side of the border."