Political Outsider Carney to Lead Canada Through US Trade War

Ex-central banker and crisis fighter says he is the only one prepared to handle Trump

- 

OTTAWA - Mr. Mark Carney, soon to become Canada's new prime minister, is a two-time central banker and crisis fighter about to face his biggest challenge of all: steering Canada through US President Donald Trump's tariffs.

The Liberals announced Mr. Carney as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's successor on March 9, after party members voted in a nominating contest. Mr. Trudeau resigned in January, facing low approval ratings after nearly a decade in office.

The 59-year-old Mr. Carney is a political outsider who has never held office, which would in normal times have killed his candidacy in Canada. But distance from Mr. Trudeau and a high-profile banking career played to his advantage, and Mr. Carney argues he is the only person prepared to handle Mr. Trump.

"I know how to manage crises... in a situation like this, you need experience in terms of crisis management, you need negotiating skills," Mr. Carney said during a leadership debate late in February.

He was born in Fort Smith in the remote Northwest Territories. He attended Harvard where he played college-level ice hockey, starring as a goalkeeper.

Mr. Carney, who garnered the most party endorsements and the most money raised among the four Liberal candidates, will soon be the first person to become Canadian prime minister without being a legislator and without having had any Cabinet experience.

He argues Canada must fight Mr. Trump's tariffs with dollar-for-dollar retaliation and diversify trading relations in the medium term.

In the next election, which must be held by Oct. 20, the Liberals will go up against the opposition Conservatives, whose leader Pierre Poilievre is a career politician with little international exposure.