Mark Carney launches his bid to be Canada’s next prime minister

Mark Carney, one of the world’s most prominent central bankers and an evangelist for green investing, announced Thursday that he is running for leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada and the country’s next prime minister. If he wins, he will lead the party to the national elections this year.

“I am here to ask for your support,” Carney, 59, said while announcing his candidacy in Edmonton, Alberta. “I’m here to gain your trust.”

Mr. Carney also said that the country faces major challenges and he is ready to meet them. “My generation of Canadians are lucky,” he said. “We’ve had a good time. A time to prosper. The system our fathers built has been working well for us. But those good old times, my friends, are over. Our times are anything but normal.”

Canadian politics have been in turmoil since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced this month his intention to step down, leaving office after nearly a decade in power amid the steady decline of his once star-studded global profile.

Mr. Trudeau leaves a treacherous legacy for any successor: the party is in tatters, with the opposition Conservatives leading the Liberals by more than 25 percentage points in recent polls as voters grow increasingly disillusioned with the direction the country is headed.

Mr. Carney, who has served as an informal economic adviser to Mr. Trudeau during the pandemic, is seeking to portray himself as an outsider and distance himself from Mr. Trudeau’s recent political struggles, including rising housing costs, a strained health-care system and high unemployment rates. Daily commodity prices.

Mr. Carney is likely to brandish his economics prowess as a heavyweight on the world stage — he has led the central banks of Canada and England — at a time when President-elect Donald J. Trump has threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on all goods. Canadian goods are exported to the United States.

Such a sweeping move would devastate the Canadian economy, although it would also harm the United States. (Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on Mexico.)

But it remains to be seen whether Mr. Carney will be able to convince voters that he played no role in Mr. Trudeau’s running of the country. Even before he formally announced his candidacy, Conservatives were quick to point out Carney’s ties to Mr. Trudeau.

Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader, described him as “the ultimate liberal insider” and “just like Justin”, sharing the same sentiment. image On photo

Candidates to lead the Liberal Party will campaign to attract party members before the vote in March. Once a new leader takes charge, Mr. Trudeau will officially step down and the new party leader will also become Prime Minister. General elections are then expected, possibly in the spring.

Mr. Carney, who has never run for elected office, will need to overcome the perception among Canadians that he is a stuffy bureaucrat and a disconnected member of the global elite. He was born in the Northwest Territories, but grew up in Edmonton.

He tried to repair his image this week by engaging in a shy but humorous approach interview With Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, he joked with the late-night host for about 20 minutes.

At the heart of their conversation was a running joke about the relationship between Canada and the United States, with Mr. Trump saying he wanted to essentially annex Canada and make it another country, angering many Canadians.

“We’re not moving in with you,” Mr. Carney said. “We can be friends,” he added. “friends with benefits.”

Mr Stewart later responded: “I feel like you broke off the whole interview with me.”

“We are resetting the relationship and we will get stronger,” continued Mr. Carney, who seemed more relaxed as the interview continued.

He also used Mr. Stewart’s show as a platform to try to send a message that he was never officially part of Mr. Trudeau’s embattled government.

“I’m a stranger,” Carney said.

On Thursday, Mr. Carney formally made his pitch to Liberal voters on how to guide Canada through what will likely be troubled relations with the United States and various domestic challenges, including declining productivity.

Mr. Carney added that Canada is not prepared for the global transition away from fossil fuels and the growing importance of artificial intelligence.

As for solutions, he said Mr. Poilievre’s penchant for three-word slogans to promote his ideas is not the answer. But he also made a veiled criticism of Mr. Trudeau’s progressive agenda, saying: “We cannot achieve our full potential with far-left ideas.”

Mr. Carney served as governor of the Bank of Canada between 2008 and 2013, then led the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020. At the Bank of England, he was known for giving speeches that sometimes veered into more political topics, particularly on the risks that climate change poses to global markets.

He has since held positions as Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance to the United Nations; As Chairman of Bloomberg’s Board of Directors; and as president of Brookfield Asset Management, a global investment firm that until recently was headquartered in Toronto.

One potential rival Mr. Carney may face for the leadership of the Liberal Party is Chrystia Freeland, who abruptly resigned as deputy prime minister last month and has criticized Mr. Trudeau’s management of the country.

Mr. Trudeau’s government had pursued Mr. Carney to replace Ms. Freeland in her role, but he declined.

Ms. Freeland has close relationships and a similar educational background to Mr. Carney: both are graduates of Harvard University and the University of Oxford. They are also friends, as Mr. Carney is the godfather of one of Mrs. Freeland’s children.

Of the two, Mr. Carney is far less well known to Canadians. In a modern opinion reconnaissance24 percent of Canadians recognized Mr. Carney in a photo while 51 percent recognized Ms. Freeland.

The Liberal Party’s efforts to replace its leader will be closely watched. It recently updated voting eligibility to include only Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are at least 14 years old. Registration was previously open to anyone living in Canada, regardless of citizenship status, raising concerns that voting could be vulnerable to foreign interference.

Mr. Trudeau’s office said a security task force made up of members of the Canadian Federal Police, the Department of Global Affairs and spy agencies will monitor the leadership race to ensure its legitimacy.

Candidates must raise $350,000 Canadian dollars, or about $245,000, to join the race.