5 things to know about Mark Carney, Canada's next prime minister
March 10, 202511:36 AM ET
Rachel Treisman
Mark Carney addresses supporters after winning the Liberal Party election on Sunday. He is expected to be sworn in this week.
Mark Carney, a central banker-turned-centrist politician, will become the next prime minister of Canada after winning Sunday's Liberal Party election with nearly 86% of the vote.
Carney replaces longtime Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January after a decade in office and a sharp decline in approval ratings.
World
Mark Carney to be Canada's next prime minister
Since Trudeau announced his intention to step down, President Trump has come after Canada with steep tariffs and repeated talk of making it the 51st U.S. state, drawing reciprocal tariffs and angering many Canadians (some of whom have canceled visits stateside, eschewed American products and booed the U.S. national anthem at hockey games).
It's also seen the Liberal Party surge rapidly in recent polls, either tying or surpassing the previously dominant Conservative Party, led by Pierre Poilievre.
"This has led to a resurgent nationalism, which is something that we haven't seen the likes of in a long time in Canada, that has really benefited the Liberal Party," Jamie Tronnes, executive director of the Center for North American Prosperity and Security, told NPR last week.
Experts say that's largely because of rising anti-Trump sentiment and a lack of confidence that Poilievre — a populist whose rhetoric has drawn comparisons to Trump — will stand up to him.
Carney has been defiant against Trump, vowing in his acceptance speech on Sunday that "Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape or form."
"We didn't ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves, so the Americans, they should make no mistake: In trade as in hockey, Canada will win," said Carney, himself a former collegiate hockey player.
Politics
Trump dismisses concerns over back-and-forth levies, says 'tariffs could go up'
Carney is expected to be sworn in within days and will represent his party in the country's general election this year, which must be held by Oct. 20.
But an election could be triggered much sooner than that. Opposition parties in Parliament could force an early election with a no-confidence vote when they return later this month, or Carney himself could call one.
Carney, 59, has not previously been elected to public office and doesn't have a seat in parliament. While that's not unprecedented, it does mean that he can't participate in debates or votes — and suggests that he may call an election sooner rather than later, Canadian media report.
Here's what else to know about him.
He led the banks of Canada and England
Carney began his career in the private sector, spending over a decade in the London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto offices of Goldman Sachs.
He returned to Canada and entered public service in the early aughts. He was appointed deputy governor of the Bank of Canada — which oversees the country's monetary policy — in 2003, and the following year became a senior associate deputy minister of finance.
Politics
What's next for Canada? 5 questions will help decide the future after Trudeau
Carney served as the governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013, a period that included the global financial crisis.
He then ran the Bank of England — becoming the first non-Briton appointed to do so — from 2013 to 2020. During that time, he warned Britons not to leave the European Union — unsuccessfully — and oversaw the bank's response to the impacts of the Brexit referendum.
After leaving the bank, Carney began serving as the United Nations special envoy for climate action and finance.
He's a graduate of Harvard and Oxford
Carney attended Harvard University, where he played goaltender on the ice hockey team.
According to a 2011 profile of Carney in Reader's Digest Canada, he intended to study English literature and math but developed a keen interest in economics while attending lectures by Canadian-American economist John Kenneth Galbraith.
Economy
A Canadian economist has suggestions to repair U.S.-Canada relations
He graduated in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in economics and earned both a master's and doctorate in economics from Oxford University.
One of Carney's Harvard roommates, fellow Canadian Peter Chiarelli, told the magazine that "even back in university, he wanted to make his mark in public service" and seemed to possess the qualities necessary to do so.
"When I met Mark, I remember saying to my friend, 'That guy's going to be the prime minister,' " Chiarelli said. "I bug Mark about it every year. And it may come true because he just cares so genuinely about what he's doing."
He is a father of four
Carney is married to Diana Fox Carney, a British economist with a focus on developing countries.
The two — who met at Oxford — have four daughters: Cleo, Tess, Amelia and Sasha. Carney thanked them all in his speech on Sunday.
"Without your support, I wouldn't be standing here," he said. "Without your examples, I wouldn't have a purpose. Without your love, I wouldn't have the strength that I need for what lies ahead."
Politics
As Canadians cancel trips due to Trump, the U.S. tourism industry could lose billions
While Carney's children have largely stayed out of the public eye, his daughter Cleo, a first-year at Harvard College, introduced him onstage after Sunday's victory.
"I want Canadians to understand what kind of a man he is," Cleo Carney said, according to the Harvard Crimson. "He is unwaveringly supportive of the things he cares about. My dad invests in what matters. He expects nothing to come without hard work, and he is always ready to work hard."
He has triple citizenship — at least for now Carney was born in Canada — in Fort Smith, a town in the Northwest Territories — but also holds British and Irish citizenship.
Carney's grandparents moved to Canada from Ireland, and he has called that Irish heritage "a big part of who I am," according to the Irish Times. He obtained Irish citizenship in the 1980s and became a British citizen in 2018 while running the country's central bank.
As a candidate for prime minister, however, he said he intended to renounce his British and Irish citizenship. Carney told reporters earlier this month that he had written to those governments to begin the process.
Simon Says
Opinion: Don't call this coffee an Americano!
He said that while some Canadian politicians hold multiple passports, he believes the prime minister should not.
"I'm not judging those other people," Carney said. "I'm saying, as prime minister, I should only hold one citizenship."
He has been critical of Trump
Carney has been vocal in his disagreement with Trump throughout his campaign.
Last month, he compared the president to the villain from the Harry Potter franchise while speaking to supporters in Winnipeg, saying he didn't want to dignify Trump's talk of annexation.
"When you think about what's at stake in these ridiculous, insulting comments of the president, of what we could be, I view this as the sort of Voldemort of comments," Carney said. "Like I will not even repeat it, but you know what I'm talking about."
He had even sharper words during his victory speech on Sunday, accusing Trump of attacking Canadian workers, families and businesses by putting "unjustified tariffs on what we build, on what we sell, on how we earn a living."
Business
A look at some of the creative ways companies try to dodge high tariffs
Carney pledged that his government would maintain tariffs "until the Americans show us respect … and make credible, reliable commitments to free and fair trade."
Colin Robertson, a former Canadian diplomat now with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, told NPR's Morning Edition on Monday that he believes Carney will both challenge and listen to Trump, saying he "will make the case for Canada and why this makes no sense, and hope Mr. Trump pays attention."
Robertson, who first met Carney in the 1990s, said the incoming prime minister has a deep sense of public service and a big network from his years in finance.
"Safe hands," he added. "He wouldn't be accused of being particularly charismatic, but he wants to put the emphasis on growth — which is what Canada needs today if we're going to pay for all the things we need, like public services and defense." |
