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Canada's ruling Liberal Party elected Mark Carney as new leader and therefore prime minister, setting up a showdown between former central banker and US president Donald Trump.
On Sunday afternoon, the Liberals announced that Carney had won the contest as replacing Justin Trudeau.
However, as Canada faces a trade war with its southern neighbors, the celebration of Carney and his team in Ottawa is short-lived. Trump threatened to collect widespread tariffs on Canadian imports, unsuccessfully saying the country should become the 51st state in the United States.
Carney is expected to be replaced soon after Trudeau, who attended the Liberals event on Sunday.
During the campaign, Carney indicated that he would call for an election shortly after he achieved top positions to secure mandate from the Canadians.
“We've been working hard to get into the business of our business,” said Dimitry Anastakis, a professor at the University of Toronto's Rottman School of Management.
Carney, an Oxford University alumni who holds passports in the UK, Ireland and Canada, defeated former finance minister Christyre Freeland, who was considered his main rival in the race.
President Trump's regular attacks on Canada have annexed it and threatened to place tariffs on wood, dairy and steel — reinvigorated the liberals facing almost certain election defeats.
Trudeau took to the stage on Sunday and extended his applause. He said Canadians face “existent challenges from our neighbors” and are referring to President Trump's attacks and tariff threats.
“We are as diplomatic as possible, but we are fighting when we have to.”
Carney campaigned for his time as a central bank governor of Canada, a veteran of crisis management, the best way to manage Trump's hostilities, during the 2008 global financial crisis.
According to polls, the liberals with Carney narrowed the Tories' lead ahead of this year's election.
“Two months ago, being a liberal leader was like a dead-end job,” said David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, an Ottawa-based voting company.
“Thanks to Trump, Mark Carney will appear as the next PM, unable to do anything unthinkable, leading the liberals to four consecutive election victories,” he said.
For several years, Conservative and opposition leader Pierre Poilierble was expected to easily beat the majority government in the next election. But Trump and Carney as Canadian prime ministers have changed their trajectory.
On Wednesday, an Angus Reed Institute poll reported that 43% of Canadians thought Carney was best against Trump, compared to 34% who chose Polyelebré.
Kearney, the 59-year-old father of four daughters, has pledged to “build the most powerful economy in the G7,” and has pledged to “reform government and tax systems” and build and invest new incentives.
Rumors of Carney's interest in becoming prime minister later last year have intensified as Trudeau's government was surprised by polls on immigration policies, cost of living and affordable housing.
Kearney recently resigned as chairman of Brookfield Asset Management, nearly 1tn, with managed assets. He is also the chairman of climate action and finances for the Bloomberg Committee and the United Nations Special Envoy, where he spent more than a decade at Goldman Sachs.
He vowed to break all corporate ties and entrust his critical portfolio of assets to trust if he becomes prime minister.
Trudeau's exit comes when Canadian patriotism and unity are renewed due to Trump's regular attacks and tariff threats.
The Angus Reed Institute said on Friday that their vote showed Trudeau would be remembered through Canadian child benefits and dental care, legalizing marijuana, successful Covid-19 responses and widening social safety nets.
“On the other end of the spectrum, they see immigration policies, handling of inflation/costs in the living crisis, and the biggest failure of federal carbon taxes.”
