Former central banker Mark Carney has won the race to replace Justin Trudeau as leader of Canada’s ruling Liberal Party, official results showed on Sunday.
Carney will take office at a tumultuous time in Canada, which is in the midst of a trade war with longtime ally the United States under President Donald Trump and is due to hold a general election soon.
Carney, 59, won 86% of the vote, defeating former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in a race in which fewer than 152,000 party members voted.
“There is someone trying to weaken our economy,” Carney said to loud cheers of Trump at the party meeting. “He is attacking Canadian workers, families and businesses. We cannot let him succeed.”
“This is not going to be business as usual,” Carney said. “We are going to have to do things we never thought possible, at a pace we never thought possible.”
In January, Trudeau announced he would resign after more than nine years in power as his approval rating plummeted, forcing the ruling Liberal Party to call a snap election to replace him.
“Make no mistake, this is a defining moment for the nation. Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given. Even Canada is a given,” Trudeau said.
Carney, a political novice, argued that he was in the right place to revitalize the party and oversee trade talks with Trump, who has threatened additional tariffs that could cripple Canada’s export-reliant economy.
Trudeau has imposed retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion of American goods in response to Trump’s tariffs on Canada.
“My government will keep our tariffs in place until the Americans show us respect,” Carney said.
Carney’s victory marks the first time an outsider with no real political background has become Canadian prime minister. He has said his experience as the first person to serve as governor of two G7 central banks — Canada and England — makes him the best candidate to deal with Trump.
The prospect of a fresh start for the Liberal Party under Carney, combined with Trump’s tariffs and his repeated calls for Canada to become the 51st U.S. state, has led to a remarkable revival in Liberal fortunes.
The party, which trailed by 20 or more points at the start of 2025, is now statistically tied in several polls with the official opposition Conservatives, led by career politician Pierre Poiliver.
At a protest outside Canada’s Parliament Building in Ottawa on Sunday, dozens of Canadians held signs protesting Trump, without mentioning local politics.
“There is a flag-waving moment that we would never have predicted a year ago,” said Richard Johnston, a professor of politics at the University of British Columbia. “I think it is probably true when we say that the Liberals have escaped oblivion.”
However, opinion polls show that neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives will be able to form a majority government. An election is due by October 20.
Two Liberal Party sources said Carney would call an election in the coming weeks, meaning one could be held much sooner.
Carney can legally become prime minister without a seat in parliament, but tradition requires him to try to win one as soon as possible.
The Liberal Party attempted to compare Conservative leader Poilivre to Trump in a recent ad. Poilivre launched an attack on Carney on Sunday.
