EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared in Parliament Today, a Village Media newsletter devoted to covering federal politics on Parliament Hill.
Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney has won the Liberal Party’s leadership race in a landslide, setting him up to be the country’s 24th prime minister.
Over 151,000 Liberals voted in the leadership race, with Carney winning in the first ballot with just about 86 per cent of support — besting former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, former government house leader Karina Gould, and former MP Frank Baylis.
“Two months ago, I put my hand up to run for leader because I felt we needed big changes, guided by strong Canadian values,” Carney told a lively crowd in Ottawa Sunday night.
“Right now, all Canadians are being asked to serve in their own ways. We are all being called to stand up for each other and for the Canadian way of life. So let me ask you…who’s ready to stand up for Canada with me?”
Carney was largely seen as the frontrunner in the race, having been hand-picked by his soon-to-be predecessor, Justin Trudeau, as a special advisor and chair of the party’s task force on economic growth.
He was also reportedly approached to replace Freeland as finance minister in Trudeau’s cabinet, which led to her resignation on the same day she was due to deliver the country’s fall economic statement.
At the Rogers Centre Ottawa convention centre, Carney thanked the other candidates and spoke about the importance of unity, particularly in light of the tariff threats coming from the United States.
“Canadians want positive leadership that will end division and help us build together,” he said before promising to keep retaliatory tariffs in place “until the Americans show us respect and make credible, reliable commitments to free and fair trade.”
“America is not Canada. And Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape or form. We didn’t ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves. So Americans should make no mistake, in trade as in hockey, Canada will win.”
Carney was born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. He has held a number of private and public positions throughout his career, including serving as a senior associate deputy minister under both a Liberal and Conservative finance minister.
He was governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 financial crisis and spent seven years as the governor of the Bank of England.
Carney’s role as vice chairman at Brookfield Asset Management came under fire during the leadership race, with the Conservative Party arguing he hasn’t been forthright about his involvement in moving the company’s headquarters to the United States.
An Oct. 31 release revealed plans for a new share arrangement, though Carney said the deal did not conclude until Feb. 4 after he had stepped away to launch a leadership bid. He said he should have been more precise in his language while describing the headquarters move as a “technical change.”
The National Post also showed that while Carney said he had stepped down from all his other positions, he had retained ties to at least five international boards. His campaign later had to clarify that Carney had stepped down “from all his former paid roles.”
Leading without a seat
Carney is not an elected Member of Parliament and therefore doesn’t have a seat in the House. He has not yet indicated where he would run but said that regardless of the outcome of the leadership race, he would put his name forward as an MP in the next election.
There are no legal or constitutional reasons that would prevent an unelected individual from being prime minister, but it does limit their ability to be in the House and answer questions from opposition MPs.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, for example, spent about a year and a half without a seat after being elected to the helm of the party, choosing to do a grassroots tour to talk with Canadians.
“People said this was a mistake because Canadians couldn't see him in the House of Commons, and I think it really hurt him as leader of the NDP,” said Kathy Brock, professor at the School of Policy Studies at Queen’s University.
Brock predicted it’s likely Carney will opt to trigger an election sooner rather than later and take advantage of his honeymoon period after the leadership race, given polling indicates the Liberals are catching up to the Conservatives.
The party also appears to be preparing for a vote, with a fundraising note sent out Sunday afternoon asking for donations to help the new leader “hit the ground running” as an election is “not far off.”
Lori Turnbull, a professor of political science at Dalhousie University, said Carney has the potential to “grow the party base.”
“However, he's also in testing politically,” she told Parliament Today last week. “I find him impatient with the media, and he needs to soften that I think before a campaign.”
“Carney needs to find a way of communicating to the media and to the public that is galvanizing and that is clear and will get people engaged and willing to go in and check that box in the ballot.”
There is also something to be said of going to an election before the true impact of the U.S. tariffs take hold. While President Donald Trump has temporarily paused levies on items covered by the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), steel and aluminum tariffs are set to go into effect on March 12.
Reciprocal U.S. tariffs are also expected on April 2.
“Voters tend to vote against the governing party when the economy goes down,” Brock said. “They don't want to be facing the public when the full effects of tariffs or other decisions made have yielded a weaker economy.”
Carney has often leaned on his private-sector financial experience throughout the campaign to show he is the best candidate to take on Trump and the economic impact of tariffs — and it doesn’t appear as though that is going to change. In his speech, he attacked Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre as someone “who worships at the altar of the free market despite never having made a payroll.”
“Unlike Pierre Poilievre, I have actually worked in the private sector. I know how the world works, and how it can be made to work better for us.”
What’s next?
Trudeau has to formally step down as prime minister and provide Carney’s name to the Governor General to replace him. Once this happens, Carney will be named prime minister of Canada.
It’s also unclear what the results mean for the other candidates’ political future. Freeland and Gould have both said they would run in the next election regardless of the results of the leadership race. Baylis has not made such a commitment.
While other candidates have publicly said they would include their opponents in their cabinet, Carney has not.
Freeland, for her part, received a weak second place showing on the ballot, winning just eight per cent of the points. Earlier on Sunday, her office said she will be travelling to New York City to accept the Foreign Policy Association Medal, “the highest honour bestowed by the Foreign Policy Association.”
Gould placed third, winning 3.2 per cent of the points, followed by Baylis, who won 3 per cent.
Note: This copy has been updated with speeches from the Liberal Party of Canada convention.