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Mark Carney is the new Liberal leader, replacing Justin Trudeau – National
Mark Carney, former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, has been elected as the new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.
At a convention that saw crowds in red and white waving mini Canadian flags in Ottawa on Sunday, Carney was announced as the winner and is set to replace Trudeau as prime minister once he is sworn in.
Speaking at the convention, Carney said his guiding principles of governance would be “fiscal responsibility, social justice and international leadership.”
He also thanked his predecessor for being “a fighter for Canada.”
“You have led us through some of the hardest challenges that this nation has ever faced,” Carney said to Trudeau.
All eyes will now be on when he will choose to launch a federal election, with the House of Commons set to return on March 24 and Canada facing what Trudeau described as an “existential crisis” from the U.S. trade war in a speech at the convention.
“Who’s ready to stand up for Canada with me?” Carney asked the crowd, drawing cheers and applause.
He added, “Two months ago, I put up my hand to run for leader because I felt we needed big changes. But big changes, guided by strong Canadian values.”
Carney in his speech made a pitch for unity, saying: “We are strongest when we are one economy, not 13.”
He added, “I know that these are dark days. Dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust. We are getting over the shock, but let us never forget the lessons. We have to look after ourselves, and we have to look out for each other. We need to pull together in the tough days ahead.”
Mark Carney’s plunge into politics had been rumoured since the summer, when Trudeau acknowledged that he has been speaking with Carney “for years about getting him to join federal politics.”
Talking about the days to come, Carney said he will “put into action our plan to build a stronger economy, to create new trading relationships with reliable trading partners, and to secure our borders.”
![Click to play video: 'Who is Canada’s new prime minister? What you need to know about Mark Carney']()
Carney reiterated that he would roll back two key fiscal policies of the Trudeau government.
“I am a pragmatist above all. So when I see that something’s not working, I’ll change it. My government will immediately eliminate the divisive carbon tax” on consumers, and stop the hike in capital gains tax,” he said.
He added, however, that he would keep Canada’s retaliatory tariffs against the United States and any proceeds from those tariffs would be used to support Canadian workers.
“My government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect,” he said.
Carney said Donald Trump was trying to weaken Canada’s economy.
“In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win,” he said.
What did Carney say about Poilievre?
Carney drew a contrast between himself and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in his speech.
“There’s someone else who, if he succeeds, will weaken our economy. Pierre Poilievre,” Carney said, as the crowd booed and Carney called Poilievre “a lifelong politician who worships at the altar of the free market despite never having made a payroll himself.”
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“Unlike Pierre Poilievre, I’ve actually worked in the private sector. I know how the world works, and I know how it can be made to work better for all of us.”
He added, “Trump thinks he can weaken us with his plan to divide and conquer. Pierre Poilievre’s plan will leave us divided and ready to be conquered. Because a person who worships at the altar of Donald Trump will kneel before him, not stand up to him.”
![Click to play video: '‘Elbows up’: Trudeau warns Canada of ‘existential’ threat from U.S. in final speech as PM']()
When he is sworn in, Carney will be the first prime minister since John Turner in 1984 to not be a member of Parliament. Incidentally, Turner stepped in to replace Trudeau’s father Pierre Trudeau.
Trudeau said last week he does not intend to be a caretaker prime minister.
Born in Fort Smith, N.W.T., and raised in Edmonton, Carney earned an undergraduate economics degree from Harvard University and followed that up with master’s and doctoral degrees from Oxford University.
Four contenders were in the race to replace Justin Trudeau for the top job in the party and as prime minister of Canada. Carney finished in first place 85.9 per cent of the vote, followed by former finance minister Chrystia Freeland in second place, former cabinet minister Karina Gould in third place and businessman Frank Baylis coming in fourth.
Speculation is swirling in Ottawa that the new leader could replace Trudeau as prime minister within a matter of days and then within weeks call an early election.
Justin Trudeau was introduced on stage by his daughter.
“I’m looking forward to seeing more of him at home and less of him online,” said Ella-Grace Trudeau in a speech to the convention. “Dad, I’m so proud of you.”
![Click to play video: 'Former PM Jean Chrétien ‘very confident’ in Mark Carney after Liberal leadership win']()
“Being prime minister of this country has been the honour of my life,” Trudeau said, adding he was looking forward to the next chapter and being with his family.
“Liberals are dedicated to making this country even better not because we think it’s broken but because we have an opportunity and therefore a responsibility to make sure that Canada stays the best country on earth.” Trudeau said.
Reflecting on his time in office, Trudeau said, “These past 10 years have been challenging. Crisis after crisis have been thrown at Canadians. But through every crisis, Canadians have shown who they are … every single time, we’ve emerged stronger.”
He also warned of the “existential crisis” Canada faces from the United States, where U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants Canada to become the 51st state.
“We are a country that will be diplomatic when we can, but fight when we must – elbows up!” Trudeau said, drawing chants and cheers of “elbows up!” from the crowd.
The phrase, which is a hockey term for being ready to defend yourself when a game is getting rough or unruly, has become a rallying cry for many Canadians as the country readies for a trade war with the U.S.
![Click to play video: '‘Dad, I’m so proud of you’: Trudeau’s daughter Ella-Grace offers emotional tribute to father’s time as PM']()
‘Stop this nonsense’: Chretien to Trump
Former prime minister Jean Chretien, who also addressed the convention, said Canada’s relationship with the U.S. was “falling apart before our eyes and is becoming something that is difficult to name.”
However, he said Canada was ready for the challenge.
“In Canada, our elbows are up. We’re working together to unite to deal with this threat, the threat to our economy and our sovereignty. In other words, our very existence as a country,” Chretien said.
In his speech, Chretien directly addressed Trump.
“From one old guy to another old guy: stop this nonsense,” Chretien said to Trump. “Canada will never join the United States.”
He added that Canada could weather the storm of a trade war and threats to its sovereignty.
![Click to play video: 'What Mark Carney’s victory means for Canada’s upcoming federal election']()
“Nobody will starve us into submission. Canada is and will remain the best country in the world. Vive le Canada!”
On Jan. 6, Trudeau said he plans to step down
as Canada’s prime minister and leader of the Liberal party.
Trudeau said he would stay on until a replacement is chosen, while also asking the governor general to prorogue Parliament until March 24.
“Despite best efforts to work through it, Parliament has been paralyzed for months after what has been the longest session of a minority parliament in Canadian history,” Trudeau said, speaking in front of his residence in Ottawa.
“That’s why this morning I advised the governor general that we need a new session of Parliament. She has granted this request and the House will now be prorogued until March 24.”
![Click to play video: 'A lookback at Justin Trudeau’s 10-year leadership as Canada’s PM']()
–with files from Canadian Press
Auto sector faces ‘uncertainty, instability, chaos’ amid Trump tariff pause
As Canada scrambles to avoid tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump amid a month-long pause, union leaders say there is growing uncertainty in the auto manufacturing sector — an industry that could be forced to shut down within mere days if those tariffs are implemented.
That’s because the North American auto sector is highly integrated, with parts and components frequently crossing the Canada-U.S. border alone before vehicles are fully assembled.
A 25 per cent tariff on Canadian auto parts would upend that international assembly line, manufacturers say.
“Uncertainty, instability, chaos: those are the words I’ve been using to describe the moment we’re in,” said Lana Payne, the national president of Unifor, whose members include nearly 22,000 Canadian autoworkers.
“In the auto industry alone, you would see a mass industrial interruption unlike [anything] I’ve seen in my lifetime. It potentially would shut the industry down in a week at least.”
![Click to play video: 'Trump’s tariffs can impede Canada’s auto industry — here’s why']()
The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association (CVMA), which represents automakers Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, says parts and components can cross the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico up to eight times before final vehicle assembly.
That highly integrated regional production model, which dates back decades, has been replicated with success by other auto manufacturing countries like Japan and South Korea, which employ southeast Asian countries to produce parts and supply critical minerals for batteries.
Yet American unions like United Auto Workers have criticized the regional approach, claiming North American free trade rules have allowed automakers to invest more in Canada and Mexico while hollowing out the U.S. auto sector.
Trump has vowed to bring those jobs back to the U.S. — a point frequently raised by Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Leader Doug Ford, who is running for re-election as premier on the promise to protect an industry that employs as many as 100,000 workers in the province alone.
“The threat of tariffs is still very real,” Ford said at a campaign stop in Ottawa on Tuesday.
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“Trump is on a mission. He wants to take Ontario’s auto jobs and send them to Michigan and North Carolina.”
Auto exports account for nearly 30 per cent of Ontario’s foreign trade output, according to the CVMA. It also notes over 90 per cent of vehicles made in Canada are exported to the U.S., at a value of $51 billion in 2023.
The federal government says auto exports account for 10 per cent of manufacturing GDP and 21 per cent of manufacturing trade.
Trump has said repeatedly in recent weeks that “we don’t need” Canada’s vehicles or auto parts, and that he wants vehicles purchased in America to be built entirely domestically.
That’s not currently possible, Payne says.
“About 50 per cent of the parts that go into cars built in the United States come from Canada and Mexico,” she said. “And if you don’t have parts, you can’t build cars.
“A lot of these parts companies would not be able to withstand a 25 per cent tariff. It would just make it impossible for them to operate.”
![Click to play video: '‘It’s terrible’: Auto parts manufacturers worry about impact of tariffs']()
Manufacturers and unions have also pointed out that tariffing North American auto parts will ultimately raise the cost of vehicle production and the sale prices of vehicles sold within the region.
That could open the door for foreign automakers to offer cheaper alternatives to the market, those groups say — something Trump has also vowed to stop by cracking down on Chinese incursions into the auto sector through Mexico.
“In the end, tariffs increase cost, hinder trade, reduce economic efficiency, limit growth, and critically hurt consumers and workers,” said David Adams, president and CEO of Global Automakers of Canada, which represents companies including Toyota, Honda and BMW.
A joint statement from the Unifor Auto Council and Unifor Independent Parts Supplier Council, representing local autoworker and parts manufacturer unions in Canada, said tariffs on Canadian and Mexican vehicles and parts “presents a disaster scenario for autoworkers in all three countries” in North America.
“The cost of building vehicles will rise exponentially. Production lines will freeze, and the effects will ripple to workers across the supply chain. Consequently, and with the cost of new vehicles rising, consumers will shift to relatively cheaper, imported vehicles – those built in non-North American assembly plants,” the statement said.
Examples of how disruptions to the North American auto supply chain can upset the industry have been seen in recent years, including during the “Freedom Convoy” protests that blocked the Ambassador Bridge border crossing between Ontario and Michigan.
![Click to play video: 'Frustration rises as Canada-U.S. border blockade in Ontario forces diversions']()
The CVMA says 2.5 million truck container crossings were recorded in 2023 — a “significant portion” of which were carrying auto components back and forth.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a Windsor, Ont., manufacturing plant that builds engines for pickup trucks was forced to shut down for “many, many weeks” because it could not source necessary bolts from China that had locked down, Payne said.
As the countdown to possible tariffs ticks down yet again, Payne and manufacturing groups say Canada needs to look at increasing auto investments within the country to mitigate against reliance on the U.S.
That could include more electric vehicle manufacturing facilities like the ones being built by Honda and Volkswagen, which were lured to Canada by multi-billion-dollar government incentives.
As with other sectors that will be impacted by U.S. tariffs, diversifying trade relationships will also be crucial, Payne says.
“I think we would be in a stronger position as a country right now had we been doing some of this earlier,” she said.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
