Ottawa, Canada: Canada's Liberal Party on Sunday elected Mark Carney as the country‘s next prime minister, to replace party leader Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The 59-year-old won 85.9 percent of the ballots cast in the Liberal Party leadership vote defeating his main challenger, Trudeau's former deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, news agency AFP reported.
Soon after the election, Mark Carney hit hard at US President Donald Trump over his tariff threats.
Carney, who previously helmed the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, will not be in the office for long as Canada has to hold polls in October. Carney, however, can declare polls within weeks.
It is reported citing opinion polls that the opposition Conservatives has a slight edge.
In his speech after the election, Carney took on President Trump asserting that Trump’s efforts to seize control of Canada must be defeated.
Carney told the cheering supporters that ‘The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country’, adding that Trump is ‘attacking Canadian workers, families, and businesses. We cannot let him succeed’.
Since taking office, US President Trump expressed his ambition to annex Canada and threatened to impose heavy tariffs on the country which could undermine Canada’s economy.
In his farewell speech in Ottawa, PM Trudeau said that Canadians are facing ‘existential challenge’ from the country’s neighbour.
Since entering the leadership race, Carney projected himself as the best candidate to thwart Trump’s moves.
Before entering the Canadian civil service, Carney was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs.
Carney, who has never served the parliament or any elected office, was an envoy at United Nations after leaving the Bank of England in 2020.