Mark Carney’s signature is already etched on Canada's currency. Now, he is about to leave his mark on its politics.
He has never held public office. Yet, in a stunning rise, Carney — former central banker, global finance heavyweight and climate advocate — has been elected leader of Canada's Liberal Party. In just under two months of political life, he has positioned himself as the country's 24th prime minister, succeeding Justin Trudeau.
At 59, Carney embodies the archetype of a modern technocrat: a career banker with an unmistakable globalist pedigree. A true Davos man, his worldview is shaped by the corridors of high finance and the elite halls of policymaking — credentials increasingly out of favour in Washington currently but deeply embedded in Canada's institutional DNA.
Carney's road to power was anything but conventional. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in 1988 and took a job at Goldman Sachs, where he spent the next few years navigating the high-stakes world of global finance. But something pulled him away.
In 1991, he left Wall Street and headed to Oxford, immersing himself in economic theory. Within four years, he'd earned both a master's degree and a PhD — sharpening the intellectual edge that would later define his career.
Carney did not just climb the ranks of global finance — he rewrote the playbook. As governor of Canada's central bank, he helped steer the country through the wreckage of the 2008 financial crisis, earning praise for his cool-headed leadership. Then came the call from London.
In 2013, Carney made history as the first non-British governor of the Bank of England in its 300-year existence — a Canadian suddenly sitting at the very heart of Britain's financial empire. The British press dubbed him a "rock star banker," a label that stuck as he jetted between Davos summits, climate conferences and closed-door meetings with world leaders.
Now, Carney steps into a different kind of turbulence — the unforgiving world of politics.
As Canada's next prime minister he will now try to steer his country through a looming trade war led by US President Donald Trump, a threat of annexation and an expected federal election.
Canada’s governing Liberal Party elected him its leader on Sunday in a landslide vote with 85.9 percent support, according to the AP.
Carney, many say, has a rare chance to break from outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's pro-Israel stance and realign Canada's policy around human rights and international law in Gaza. Pro-peace advocacy group Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) has asked the incoming PM to take decisive action over the Palestinian issue.
Carney, replaces Trudeau (in office since 2015), who announced his resignation in January but remains prime minister until his successor is sworn in in the coming days.
Widely expected to trigger an election in the coming days or weeks amid Trump’s sweeping tariff threats, Carney can choose to continue in office until October 20, 2025, when general elections are due.
Canada 'did not ask for this fight'
"We didn’t ask for this fight. But Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves," Carney said after being voted as the next leader of Canada's Liberal Party. "The Americans, they should make no mistake, in trade, as in hockey, Canada will win."
Carney said Canada will keep its initial retaliatory tariffs in place until "the Americans show us respect." The new PM navigated crises when he was the head of the Bank of Canada and when in 2013 he became the first noncitizen to run the Bank of England.
Trump's trade war and his talk of making Canada the 51st US state have infuriated Canadians, who are booing the American anthem at NHL and NBA games. Some are cancelling trips south of the border, and many are avoiding buying American goods when they can.
TRT Global - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada has struck back at US tariffs with $106 billion in tariffs on American products.
The surge in Canadian nationalism has bolstered the Liberal Party’s chances in a parliamentary election, and Liberal showings have been improving 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."
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.
"These are dark days, dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust," Carney said. "We need to pull together in the tough days ahead."
Trump has postponed 25 percent tariffs on many goods from Canada and Mexico for a month amid widespread fears of a broader trade war. But he has threatened other tariffs on steel, aluminum, dairy and other products.
On Monday, Ontario, Canada's most populous province, began charging 25 percent more for electricity to 1.5 million Americans in response to Trump's trade war.
A nation-defining moment
Carney picked up one endorsement after another from Cabinet ministers and members of Parliament since declaring his candidacy in January.
Trudeau previously offered to make him finance minister. Carney has said former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper also offered to make him finance minister.
In 2020, he began serving as the United Nations’ special envoy for climate action and finance. The other top Liberal leadership candidate was former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who received just 8% of the vote.
Trudeau told Freeland in December that he no longer wanted her as finance minister, but that she could remain deputy prime minister and the point person for US-Canada relations. Freeland resigned shortly after, releasing a scathing letter about the government that proved to be the last straw for Trudeau.
Either Carney will call an election in the coming days or weeks, or the opposition parties in Parliament could force one with a no-confidence vote later this month. Trudeau has urged Liberal supporters to get involved.
"This is a nation-defining moment. Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given. Even Canada is not a given," Trudeau said.
