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OTTAWA, Ontario – Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney will become Canadas next prime minister after winning the Liberal leadership race on Sunday night. Carney told cheering supporters that “Canada never ever will be part of America in any way, shape or form.”
The prime minister-designate said Canadas tariffs against the United States will remain until the Americans “show us respect” and added that Canadians “are always ready when someone else drops the gloves.”
Carney said that while “Donald Trump thinks he can weaken us with his plan to divide and conquer,” Conservative Official Opposition Leader “Pierre Poilievres plan will leave us divided and ready to be conquered.”
Carney received 86% of the vote, or 131,764 votes of the 151,899 ones cast from the nearly 400,000 party members who registered to participate in the leadership election.
TRUMP CRITIC MARK CARNEY POISED TO REPLACE TRUDEAU AS CANADA’S PRIME MINISTER
Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, speaks to supporters in Ottawa, Ontario, on March 9, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
The new Liberal leader told party members that they should be prepared to fight “the most important election of our lives” where the “stakes have never been higher.”
He said that Canada is the “greatest country in the world and now our neighbors want to take us. No way,” said the incoming Canadian prime minister referring to President Donald Trumps repeated desire for the U.S. to annex Canada as the “51st state.”
When Trump announced his tariffs against Canada last month, Carney issued a statement that “Canada will not bow down to a bully. We wont stand by as illegal U.S. tariffs hurt our workers and their families. As Canadians, we need to face this challenge as one united team.”
In December, outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reportedly approached Carney to serve as Canadian finance minister, which caused the incumbent, Chrystia Freeland, to leave the Cabinet and publicly release her resignation letter in which she wrote that she and the prime minister had “found [themselves] at odds about the best path forward for Canada.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waves as he leaves the offices of Salesforce in San Francisco on Feb. 8, 2018. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)
Less than a month later, Trudeau announced his intention to step down as Liberal leader and prime minister, saying that if hes “having to fight internal battles, [he] cannot be the best option” in a general election scheduled to be held no later than Oct. 20.
But opposition parties have vowed to force an earlier national vote through a non-confidence motion in the House of Commons against the Liberal minority government when Parliament is recalled on March 24.
On Saturday, Canadas Globe and Mail newspaper reported that Carney will likely call a snap election the week before the March 24 resumption of Parliament, with voting day on either April 28 or May 5.
The new Liberal leader is expected to meet with Trudeau on Monday to discuss the transition that will find Carney and a slimmed-down Cabinet sworn into office by Friday.
WHO IS PIERRE POILIEVRE? CANADA’S CONSERVATIVE LEADER SEEKING TO BECOME NEXT PRIME MINISTER AFTER TRUDEAU EXIT
Pierre Poilievre, leader of Canada’s Conservative Party, speaks during the Canada Strong and Free Networking Conference in Ottawa, Ontario, on April 11, 2024. (David Kawai/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But regardless of the Liberals having a new leader with some momentum in the polls, Canadas Conservatives under their leader, Pierre Poilievre, are ready for a “change election,” said Laura Kurkimaki, who served as deputy national campaign manager for the Conservative Party during the last federal election in 2021.
“Weve had 10 years of a Liberal government, and Canadians are tired of that,” said Kurkimaki, who also served as principal secretary to former Conservative official opposition leader Erin OToole, whose party won the popular vote but not enough House seats to win the 2021 election.
Furthermore, she said the new Liberal leader would be running on “Trudeaus record,” and while Carney wasnt a member of the prime ministers government, he was appointed last September by the Liberal Party to chair a task force on economic growth for Trudeau.
“The next election will be about who is going to make life more affordable for Canadians,” said Kurkimaki. “Whats going on in the U.S. impacts that, of course, and creates economic uncertainty in Canada.”
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President Donald Trump and Mark Carney (Getty Images)
She added that the longer Carney waits to call an election, the Conservatives get more time to launch their attack ads against him.
During an election, parties face spending limits. But before the writ is dropped to launch the election period, parties can spend as much as they want on advertising, and the Conservatives raised more than double (about $29 million) last year than the Liberals, at about $11 million.
In an interview with The Spectator, Trump, commenting on the Conservative party leader, said Poilievres “biggest problem is hes not a MAGA guy. Hes not a Trump guy at all.”
The Canadian Conservative leader replied on X, “Mr. President, it is true. I am not MAGA.”
“I am for Canada First. Always,” Poilievre posted. “Canada has always been Americas best friend & ally. But we will NEVER be the 51st state.”
Christopher Guly is an Ottawa-based journalist and longtime member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery. He has reportedfrom Canada for several media outlets in the U.S. and the U.K. He can be followed on X @ChristopherGuly