Mark Carney's tough talk ahead of Canadian election

For someone trying to win an election, Mark Carney appeared taken aback by the crowd of about 300 chanting his name Fat a meet-and-greet in this steel town menaced by tariffs.

- HAMILTON

But the Liberal leader and two-time central banker soon warmed to his topic: United States President Donald Trump's imposition of tariffs and his jibes about making Canada the 51st state. "His strategy is to break us so America can own us," Carney told the crowd in this town in the crosshairs of Trump's trade war-who responded with a smattering of boos at the mention of the US president. "We are over the shock of the betrayal. But we should never forget the lessons." With less than two weeks until Canadians go to the polls on April 28, 60-year-old Carney, a Harvard-educated technocrat two months into his political career, has capitalized on his image as a steady hand at the tiller in an economic storm, drawing on his record as Canada's central banker during the 2008 financial crisis and England's central banker during Brexit.

His Liberal party has rebounded to a 6-point lead over the main opposition Conservative party led by Pierre Poilievre in polls aggregated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, after trailing by 24 points in January. Carney's blend of tough talk and bland competence is a deliberate strategy, six Liberal strategists and a person directly familiar with Carney's campaign told Reuters. It has resonated with many Canadians. Carney's Liberal party is projected to win a majority in parliament, extending its decade-long hold on power.

The Liberal party did not respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, career politician Poilievre has struggled to adapt his campaign to Trump, six Conservative strategists and four independent analysts said.

Carney's monotone speaking style when he took over the Liberal leadership last month from former prime minister Justin Trudeau struck Liberal strategist Andrew Perez. "Aren't his advisers trying to get him to get excited?" Perez recalls asking a Liberal strategist who was not part of Carney's team but was aware of their strategy.