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 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.
