Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says he’s ready to replace Justin Trudeau and lead the Liberal party into the next election.
He made the announcement at a community centre in Edmonton Thursday afternoon, ending nearly a decade of speculation about his political ambitions.
“I’m back home in Edmonton to declare my candidacy for leader of the Liberal party and prime minister of Canada,” Carney said, flanked by supporters and Liberal members of Parliament endorsing his candidacy.
Carney grew up in Edmonton before he left to study economics at Ivy League universities abroad. He then launched a gold-plated career that saw him setting national interest rates as the head of the Bank of Canada and later the Bank of England.
Carney said he’s not an ordinary politician and these are not ordinary times. He told the crowd political and economic systems aren’t working as they should, making Canadians anxious as they fall behind economically and struggle to find doctors and afford to buy homes.
And he noted that in just a matter of days, Donald Trump will be sworn in as U.S. president as he threatens the Canadian economy.
The former central banker said that even though he’s never run for public office before, he’s ready to take on the popular Conservatives.
“I know I’m not the usual suspect when it comes to politics, but this is no time for politics as usual. No, it’s not the time for lifelong politicians such as Pierre Poilievre — politicians with bad ideas,” he said.
“Conservatives don’t run around saying Canada’s broken because they want to fix it. They want a licence to demolish and destroy.”
The Conservative party was ready for his announcement. It released a new digital ad branding him as “carbon tax Carney” just hours before the formal announcement, pointing to his history of supporting carbon pricing policies.
“Mark Carney is back from Europe to continue what Justin Trudeau started,” the ad said, arguing he would behave just like Prime Minister Trudeau in government.
Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland and Liberal House leader Karina Gould are both expected to launch their own leadership bids in the coming days.
Candidates only have until Jan. 23 to declare they will run.
Liberals will elect their new leader and bring the Trudeau era to a close on March 9.
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