Amid a generational crisis in Canada’s relationship with the United States, the Liberal Party of Canada on Sunday chose an unelected technocrat with deep experience in financial markets to replace Justin Trudeau as party leader and the country’s prime minister, and to take on President Trump.
Mark Carney, 59, who steered the Bank of Canada through the 2008 global financial crisis and the Bank of England through Brexit, but who has never been elected to office, won a leadership race on Sunday against his friend and former finance minister, Chrystia Freeland.
He won a stunning 85.9 percent of the votes cast by Liberal Party members. More than 150,000 people voted, according to the party’s leaders.
“America is not Canada. And Canada never, ever will be part of America in any way, shape or form,” Mr. Carney said in his acceptance speech on Sunday evening to an electric crowd of party faithful, directly addressing Mr. Trump’s constant threat that he wants to make Canada the 51st state. “We didn’t ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves.”
“So Americans should make no mistake,’’ Mr. Carney added. “In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.”
He is expected to be sworn in as prime minister quickly, early this week, officially ending the Trudeau era. His first and most pressing challenge will be to manage the threat from Mr. Trump to Canada’s economy and sovereignty.
But, because Mr. Carney does not hold a seat in Parliament, he is expected to call federal elections soon after being sworn in as prime minister. In those elections, he will face off with Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative Party.
It’s a crucial moment to be taking the wheel in Canada, a member of NATO and the Group of 7 industrialized nations and the world’s second-largest country by land mass.
Mr. Trump has put his thumb on Canadian politics, through his on-again-off-again pursuit of tariffs against Canadian goods, which threaten to cripple the economy, and his menacing comments about annexation.
Mr. Trudeau summarized the mood within his own party, and much of Canadian society, speaking at the Liberal Party convention to an adoring crowd in Ottawa just before his successor was announced.
“This is a nation-defining moment. Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given,” Mr. Trudeau said. “Even Canada is not a given.”
Mr. Carney said he supported the retaliatory tariffs Canada has adopted. “My government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect,” he said.
