Justin Trudeau is leaving a job no one seems to want, except Mark Carney
Summary
The former Bank of England and Bank of Canada governor says he is considering running for leader of Canada’s Liberal Party and prime minister.OTTAWA-Since Justin Trudeau said he would resign as prime minister, one Canadian politician after another has looked at running to lead the Liberal Party into new elections that polls show it will lose badly and said: “Not me."
Now a prominent name is finally hinting he will run-Mark Carney, a familiar face to the world of finance as the former governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England and current chairman of Brookfield Asset Management.
In an appearance Monday night on the Daily Show, he suggested "without mentioning his potential candidacy" that the party could benefit from an outsider with experience in economics and finance to help guide the Canadian economy at a precarious moment, given the threat by President-elect Donald Trump to slap a 25% tariff on all Canadian imports. Carney added the Liberal Party now has a shot in the election this year with Trudeau stepping aside.
Carney has said he was considering running for the job since Trudeau announced his resignation a week ago, but the Daily Show appearance marked the first semblance of a campaign appearance. One the program, he criticized Trudeau's economic performance.
“I think in a situation like this, you need change. You need to address the economy," Carney said, in his first media appearance since Trudeau's resignation Jan. 6. “Canadians have been very hard pressed in the last few years. Wages have not kept up with inflation. People are falling behind, not getting ahead. And truth be told the government has not been as focused on those issues as it could be. We need to focus on them immediately."
A spokeswoman for Trudeau wasn't immediately available for comment.
Canada's standard of living sits at a level equivalent to that recorded about a decade ago, based on data measuring gross domestic product per-capita. Shelter costs are at historically elevated levels, in part because of an aggressive immigration strategy that the Liberal government is now trying to roll back. Canada faces the prospect of a deep recession amid Trump's 25% tariff threat.
Trudeau, who has tried over the years to persuade Carney to join his cabinet, appointed the former central banker last summer to be the Liberal Party's economic adviser.
Carney was previously at Goldman Sachs before joining the Bank of Canada as a deputy governor in 2003. He was the Bank of Canada governor during the 2008 global financial crisis, and earned praise domestically for his role in guiding the economy and ensuring financial stability relative to other Group of Seven economies. He later served as the Bank of England governor, from 2013 to 2020, during Brexit.
Political watchers in Canada expect the Liberal Party leadership campaign to come down to a contest between Carney and former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, whose resignation letter last month set the stage for Trudeau's decision to resign. A spokeswoman for Freeland declined to comment.
A number of high-profile, senior ministers in the Trudeau cabinet have declined to enter the Liberal Party leadership race, arguing it is not the opportune time and they need to focus on U.S.-Canada relations. Liberal Party members will choose their new leader on a vote set for March 9, with an election looking likely in the spring.
Scott Reid, formerly a senior aide to Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin, said candidates are backing away because of the compressed campaign period and the limited time to raise money. "Trudeau has left the party over 20 points behind in the polls, and the party doesn't have a whole lot of money," Reid said this week on the 'Curse of Politics' podcast. “There's no time to run a race, and candidates who would otherwise have run are bowing out."
Polling this month from both Ipsos Public Affairs and Angus Reid Institute indicate that Freeland as party leader has the best chance to lift Liberals' fortunes, but not by enough to stop a comfortable Conservative Party win. The Conservatives leads the Liberals by 20 to 25 percentage points, according to most public-opinion polls.
Darrell Bricker, president at Ipsos, said Carney is in the mold of a technocrat who in previous decades would have been an ideal candidate to become Liberal Party leader. Bricker said he is uncertain whether Liberals will gravitate to the former central banker, arguing modern-day progressive-leaning parties prefer “compelling personalities" such as Trudeau and former President Barack Obama, who can resonate and inspire voters.
“He may have all the smarts, but that's not necessarily what really works in politics these days," Bricker said. The Liberals need a leader "who can really communicate effectively, and connect with people. Maybe he has those skills, but we haven't seen them yet."
Pierre Poilievre, the leader of Canada's Conservative Party, took aim at Carney's attempts to distance himself from Trudeau. Poilievre labeled Carney as “the ultimate Liberal insider" and a “cheerleader of Trudeau's destructive policies."
In his TV appearance, Carney described Poilievre as a “lifelong politician" who “worships the market, but never actually worked in the private sector." Poilievre was first elected to the legislature in 2004, at the age of 23.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com