TORONTO: Former central banker Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada\u2019s new prime minister on Friday, and will now try to steer his country through a trade war brought by US President Donald Trump, annexation threats and an expected federal election.
\nCarney, 59, replaces Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January but remained in power until the Liberal Party elected a new leader. Carney is widely expected to trigger a general election in the coming days or weeks.
\n\u201cWe will never, ever, in any way shape or form, be part of the United States. America is not Canada,\u201d Carney said. \u201cWe are very fundamentally a different country.\u201d
\nThe governing Liberal Party had appeared poised for a historic election defeat this year until Trump declared economic war and repeatedly has said Canada should become the 51st state. Now the party and its new leader could come out on top.
\nCarney has said he\u2019s ready to meet with Trump if he shows respect for Canadian sovereignty. He said he doesn\u2019t plan to visit Washington at the moment but hopes to have a phone call with the president soon.
\n\u201cThe president is a successful businessman and deal maker. We\u2019re his largest client in so many industries,\u201d Carney said. \u201cClients expect respect and working together in a proper commercial way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carney navigated crises when he was the head of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 financial crisis, and then in 2013 when he became the first noncitizen to run the Bank of England \u2014 helping to manage the worst impacts of Brexit in the UK
\nCarney, a former Goldman Sachs executive with no experience in politics, becomes Canada\u2019s 24th prime minister. He said protecting Canadian workers and their families in the face of unjustified trade actions and growing the economy will be his top priorities.
\nCarney said he will travel to Europe to visit French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the coming days. He received invitations from both.
\n\u201cWe must diversify our trade partners and strengthen our security in so doing,\u201d Carney said.
\nTrump put 25 percent tariffs on Canada\u2019s steel and aluminum and is threatening sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products April 2. He has threatened economic coercion in his annexation threats and suggested the border is a fictional line.
\nCarney called the idea \u201ccrazy.\u201d
\nThe US trade war and Trump\u2019s talk of making Canada the 51st US state have infuriated Canadians, who are booing the American anthem at NHL and NBA games. Some are canceling trips south of the border, and many are avoiding buying American goods when they can.
\nCarney said he\u2019s worked with Trump before at G7 and G20 summits during Trump\u2019s first presidency.
\n\u201cWe share some experiences. I have been in the private sector. I have worked in the real estate sector. I have done large transactions,\u201d Carney said. \u201cWe will both be looking out for our countries but he knows, and I know from long experience, that we can find mutual solutions that win for both.\u201d
\nThe opposition Conservatives hoped to make the election about Trudeau, whose popularity declined as food and housing prices rose and immigration surge.<\/p>\n
But after decades of bilateral stability, the vote on Canada\u2019s next leader now is expected to focus on who is best equipped to deal with the US
\n\u201cHe will do very well. He\u2019s respected internationally,\u201d former Prime Minister Jean Chr\u00e9tien told reporters Friday. But, he added: \u201cThere is no magic solution. This is not a normal situation. We\u2019ve never seen someone who changes his mind every five minutes as president of the United States.\u201d
\nA new Cabinet of 13 men and 11 women was sworn in, smaller than Trudeau\u2019s 37-member team. Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne becomes Canada\u2019s new finance minister, the government\u2019s second most powerful position. Champagne has said a new prime minister offers a chance of a reset with Trump.
\nDominic LeBlanc goes from finance to to intergovernmental affairs. M\u00e9lanie Joly remains foreign minister. Chrystia Freeland, a former deputy prime minister and finance minister who lost to Carney in the Liberal Party leadership race, becomes minister of transport and internal trade.
\nCarney met his Cabinet and eliminated a consumer carbon price on his first day, undoing Trudeau\u2019s signature climate policy. He called his government \u201cCanada\u2019s new government\u201d in an effort to distance himself from Trudeau.
\nCarney also took aim at opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, a career politician who Carney said is always negative.
\n\u201cNegativity won\u2019t pay the rent or the mortgage. Negativity won\u2019t bring down the price of groceries. Negativity won\u2019t win a trade war,\u201d he said.
\nPoilievre urged Canadians not to give the Liberals a fourth mandate, saying it\u2019s the same Liberal government and that Carney is \u201cjust like Justin.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TORONTO: Former central banker Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada\u2019s new prime minister on Friday, and will now try to steer his country through a trade war brought by US President Donald Trump, annexation threats and an expected federal election. Carney, 59, replaces Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January but …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":78440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78422"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78441,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78422\/revisions\/78441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}