Mark Carney will run for election in the Ottawa riding of Nepean as the new Canadian prime minister seeks to join parliament for the first time, his Liberal party has announced.
Carney on Sunday is predicted to trigger an early general election on 28 April. The Liberals said on Saturday that Carney would run to represent the suburban riding, or district, of Nepean, noting in a social media post that Ottawa is where he raised his family and devoted his career to public service. He previously served as the head of Canada’s central bank and before that as deputy.
The election campaign for 343 seats in the House of Commons will last 37 days. The party that commands a majority in the House of Commons, either alone or with the support of another party, will form the next government and its leader will be prime minister.
Carney replaced Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January but remained in power until the governing Liberal party elected Carney on 9 March following a leadership race.
Carney, sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister on 14 March, has said the government in a time of crisis needs a strong and clear mandate. The governing Liberals had appeared poised for a historic election defeat this year until Donald Trump declared a trade war.
The opposition Conservatives had hoped to make the election about Trudeau, whose popularity declined as food and housing prices rose and immigration surged. But after decades of stability in US-Canada relations, the vote is expected instead to focus on who is best equipped to deal with Trump.
Carney, 60, was the head of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 financial crisis. In 2013 he became the first non-citizen of the United Kingdom to run the Bank of England – helping to manage the impact of Brexit.
Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservatives, is Carney’s main challenger. The party and Poilievre had been heading for a huge victory in Canada’s federal election this year until derailed by Trump’s behaviour.
Trump has repeatedly said that Canada should become the 51st US state, put 25% tariffs on Canada’s steel and aluminium and is threatening sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products – as well as all of America’s trading partners – on 2 April.
Trump’s frequent attacks on Canada’s sovereignty have infuriated Canadians. That has led to a surge in nationalism that has bolstered Liberal poll numbers.
Trump mocked Trudeau by calling him governor, but has not yet mentioned Carney by name.
With Associated Press