# Carney talks tough on Trump threat - but can he reset relations?

Watch: Trump has put unjustified tariffs on Canada, says Mark Carney

Mark Carney's thumping victory in the race to succeed Justin Trudeau makes him not only leader of the Liberal Party but, by default, the next Canadian prime minister.

It's an extraordinary result for a man with very little political experience. He has never been elected as an MP, let alone served in a cabinet post.

What Carney does have though - as Governor of the Bank of Canada during the global financial crisis and Governor of the Bank of England during the Brexit negotiations - is a long track record in global finance during times of economic turbulence.

And at a moment like this, Carney has been arguing, that could prove invaluable.

Politics in this country has been turned on its head as a result of what's happening south of the border, with US President Donald Trump launching a trade war and threatening to make Canada the 51st state of America.

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Addressing a crowd of Liberal supporters after the result of the leadership contest was announced on Sunday evening, Carney promised to face down the threats from Trump, over the tariffs and the claims on Canada's sovereignty.

"Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape or form," he said. "We didn't ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves.

"Americans should make no mistake", he warned. "In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win."

He repeatedly referred to the US president by name and said his government would keep retaliatory tariffs in place until "America shows us respect".

How he will translate his strong language on the stage in Ottawa into practical solutions to those twin challenges was, however, far less clear.


Reuters

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is now Carney's main challenger

Liberals might hope that Trudeau's exit from the stage will, in itself, help clear the air.

Instead of the frequent mocking of Trudeau by Trump as a "weak" leader, they might dare to believe that Carney will at least be able to reset the personal chemistry.

On the other hand, if he has to push hard in an attempt to win concessions, will he also risk incurring the wrath of a man who uses unpredictability as a political art form?

Much of that will depend on how serious the US president is in his insistence that he wants to impose real economic pain on Canada and annex its territory.

And that's a hard question to answer.

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After Carney had accepted the party's nomination, I caught up with former Canadian Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, who served for a decade from 1993 and who'd taken to the stage earlier in the evening.

Did he think Trump was being serious?

"You know, I don't know," he told me. "Do you know? Does anyone know? I'm not a medical doctor or a psychiatrist. He changes his mind every two or three hours. So  to be leader of the free world, it is preoccupying for everybody."


Reuters

Carney praised Trudeau's leadership in his acceptance speech

While the US threat is dominating Canadian politics - Carney described the current situation as "dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust" - there are still domestic political matters to focus on too, not least the prospect of a general election.

Once sworn in as prime minister in the coming days, Carney will have to decide whether to call a snap election. If he doesn't, the opposition parties in parliament could force one later this month through a no-confidence vote.

Before Trudeau said he was stepping down, the Liberal Party was facing electoral oblivion.

After nine years in power, he'd become a liability and a lightning rod for public anger over the rising cost of living despite record levels of government spending and a ballooning national debt.

The stage appeared to be set for the Liberals to be swept from power by a Conservative Party under the stewardship of the young, populist leader Pierre Poilievre, who had turned lambasting Trudeau into something of a sport.

Now, not only has he lost the advantage of a deeply unpopular opponent, his political style is at risk of appearing out of step. In the current environment, even a loose alignment with the politics of Trump is a potential liability with Canadian voters.

The Republican president, for his part, recently said Canada's Conservative leader was not Maga enough.

The Liberal Party is suddenly feeling a sense of rejuvenation - the gap in the opinion polls with the Conservatives, once a gulf, has narrowed dramatically. And you could feel that palpable sense of optimism in the room on Sunday evening.

Aware of the danger, Poilievre accused Liberals of "trying to trick Canadians" to elect them to a fourth term. But his statement also highlighted how Trump is changing the political messaging on this side of the border.

"It is the same Liberal team that drove up taxes, housing costs, and food prices, while Carney personally profited from moving billions of dollars and thousands of jobs out of Canada to the United States," Poilievre wrote.

"We need a new Conservative government that will put Canada First - for a change."

Trump's election has led Canada to rally to round its flag and has propelled a former central bank governor – an archetypal member of the country's political elite – to the highest office in the land.

The Conservatives may still lead in the polls, but for the first time in a long time, the Liberals believe that, under Carney, they have a fighting chance again.

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