 "Mark Carney has a trump card to win Canada election, it’s Donald Trump")
Mark Carney’s political career is only months old, yet it has already been a tumultuous journey. The former central banker appeared destined to become one of Canada’s shortest-serving prime ministers until President Donald Trump picked a fight with the country’s northern neighbour.
Carney, who was sworn in on 14 March following Justin Trudeau’s resignation and a Liberal Party leadership contest, now leads in the polls ahead of the 28 April parliamentary elections—a dramatic turnaround for a party that seemed headed for a crushing defeat until the American president began attacking Canada’s economy and sovereignty almost daily.
Trump’s trade war and threats to make Canada the 51st state have infuriated Canadians, fuelling a surge in Canadian nationalism that has helped the Liberals flip the election narrative. In a mid-January Nanos poll, the Liberals trailed the Conservative Party by 47 per cent to 20 per cent.
In the latest Nanos poll, conducted over three days ending 19 April, the Liberals led by six percentage points. The January poll had a margin of error of 3.1 points; the latest, 2.7 points.
“Timing is everything in politics and Carney entered the political arena at a most favourable time,” Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, told news agency Associated Press.
Carney’s main opponent is Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, a career politician and populist who has campaigned with Trump-like bravado, even adopting the slogan “Canada First.”
“This election is a test about whether Canada will embrace or reject populism,” Béland said, suggesting many voters see Carney as reassuring due to his experience and composure.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“Without the Trump effect, the Conservatives would probably be in a much stronger position in the polls right now. If Trump wasn’t currently in the White House, it would be hard to imagine the Liberals being the favourites in this federal race, considering how unpopular they were just a few months ago.”
Who is Carney?
Carney steered Canada’s central bank through the 2008 financial crisis and later became the first non-UK citizen to run the Bank of England since its founding in 1694, helping to manage the worst impacts of Brexit.
His appointment at the Bank of England was praised across party lines in Britain after Canada recovered from the 2008 crisis faster than many other countries.
Former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson called it “extraordinary” that a country would choose a foreigner to head its central bank, and said it was a mark of how admired Carney is.
“He is calm and cool in a crisis,” Paulson said. “He’s a clear thinker and he understands finance cold. He’s very well prepared.”
Carney, 60, is credited with keeping money flowing through the Canadian economy by acting quickly to cut interest rates to their lowest-ever level, working with bankers to sustain lending, and signalling to the public that rates would remain low to encourage borrowing.
He was the first central banker to commit to keeping rates at a historic low for a definite period—a move later followed by the Federal Reserve.
Carney is a former Goldman Sachs executive who worked in London, Tokyo, New York, and Toronto before becoming deputy governor of the Bank of Canada in 2003.
Born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Carney moved to Edmonton at age six, where his mother taught school and his father became a university professor. He earned a partial scholarship to Harvard University, where he was the backup goalie on the hockey team and studied economics, influenced by John Kenneth Galbraith.
A married father of four, Carney earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard in 1988, followed by master’s and doctoral degrees from Oxford University.
The Trump factor
What would a Carney win mean for Canada–US relations?
Carney has said Canada’s close friendship with the United States has ended, and he squarely blamed Trump.
Trump mocked Carney’s predecessor by calling him “Governor Trudeau”. He has not trolled Carney, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said this month that Trump had not changed his position that Canada “would benefit greatly by becoming the 51st state”.
Carney said the 80-year period when the US led the world economy and built alliances based on trust and mutual respect is over.
“There is no going back. We in Canada will have to build a new relationship with the United States,” he said.
If elected, Carney said he would accelerate renegotiations of the free trade deal with the US to end the uncertainty harming both economies.
“President Trump is trying to fundamentally restructure the international trading system and in the process he’s rupturing the global economy,” Carney said.
“The core question is who is going to be at the table for Canada,” he said.
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
