Mark Carney has been sworn in as Canada’s prime minister, succeeding Justin Trudeau, as the country faces questions about its sovereignty from US President Donald Trump and a trade war with Canada’s largest trading partner, the United States.
Carney, a former central banker who has never held public office in Canada, is stepping in to confront the challenges facing the country, including leading the Liberal Party into an election to be held later this year.
Carney was sworn in after Trudeau stepped down earlier Friday after nearly a decade in power.
Trudeau announced his resignation in January as polls showed his Liberal Party would likely face defeat in an upcoming election. But the party’s fortunes have since improved amid growing Canadian antipathy toward Trump and his policies.
In a farewell message posted on X on Friday, Trudeau said: “Thank you, Canada – for trusting in me, for challenging me, and for granting me the privilege to serve the best country, and the best people, on earth.”
The former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England was elected Liberal Party leader in a landslide on March 9. During his decades-long career in finance, Carney steered governments through major global crises and periods of upheaval — experience he’s hoping to now leverage as he prepares to take over from Trudeau.
The Liberals have been courting Carney for more than a decade, and he advised Trudeau on Canada’s economic recovery from Covid-19. But the banker-turned-politician did not make his official entrance until Trudeau announced his resignation in January. All of his competitors were sitting politicians: Carney is in the unusual situation of becoming Canada’s prime minister without holding a seat in parliament.