Liberal Leader Mark Carney, left, arrives at the West Block of Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 10 with Liberal MP Marco Mendicino.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Newly elected Liberal Leader Mark Carney met with outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday to plot his transition to political power as he prepares to unveil a new cabinet in the coming days ahead of an imminent election call.
On his way out of the meeting, Mr. Carney said he had a lengthy talk with Mr. Trudeau about how to deal with U.S. President’s Donald Trump’s trade war and the handover to the new government, which he said would be “seamless” and “quick.” He later met the Liberal caucus.
Mr. Carney won an 86-per-cent mandate from party faithful on Sunday, turning the onetime central banker who has never held elected office into the federal Liberal Leader. He is expected to be sworn in as prime minister of Canada as early as Wednesday morning.
“We know this is a crucial time for our country. We are united to serve Canadians and we will build this country,” he told reporters, accompanied by former Trudeau cabinet minister Marco Mendicino, who will become Mr. Carney’s chief of staff.
Shannon Proudfoot: Liberals send off Trudeau, welcome Carney in a strange, wistful, forgetful event
Mr. Carney and Mr. Trump are expected to speak in the coming days. The Globe and Mail has reported that the new Liberal Leader expects to tell the President that Canada is under new management and it’s time to get back to the bargaining table on trade irritants.
The former governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England campaigned in the leadership contest as the most capable leader to confront Mr. Trump’s America First agenda and his threats to Canadian sovereignty.
Cabinet ministers and Liberal MPs were enthusiastic about the prospect of running against Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on the campaign trail and vowing to stand up to Mr. Trump. Carney insiders have told The Globe and Mail that an election will be called for either April 28 or May 5. The Globe is not identifying the insiders to enable them to speak about internal discussions.
“Canadians are mad. We are insulted about all this rhetoric regarding the 51st state,” Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told reporters, referring to Mr. Trump’s repeated threat to annex the country, while Transport Minister Anita Anand complained about the on-and-off tariff threats coming from the White House. “We need to be strong, elbows up to ensure we are defending the Canadian economy.”
Mark Carney, fresh from claiming a landslide victory to become Liberal leader and Canada's next prime minister, met Justin Trudeau on Monday and said the formal handover of power would be quick.
Reuters
None of the ministers would speculate on whether they will remain in the new Carney cabinet, which is expected to be sworn in as early as Wednesday. The Globe has reported that Mr. Carney will likely keep Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Ms. Joly and Public Safety Minister David McGuinty in their roles to continue talks with the Trump administration.
“This is not a decision of mine but what I can say right now, the existing negotiating team has a lot of contacts within the Trump administration and where we are able to show stability, predictability when we are dealing with chaos coming out of the Oval Office, is the best,” Ms. Joly said.
Mr. Carney will face his first test on Wednesday, when Mr. Trump plans to move ahead with 25-per-cent tariffs on steel and aluminum that will force Canada to respond with similar levies. On April 2, Mr. Trump is promising to impose 25-per-cent tariffs on most Canadian imports and a 10-per-cent levy on energy, critical minerals and potash.
“We’ll be ready if that happens,” Ms. Joly said, while lauding Ontario Premier Doug Ford for imposing a 25-per-cent surcharge on electricity exported to the U.S. She urged other premiers to enact similar measures so Americans can see the folly of a trade war.
Mr. Carney said he will be reaching out soon to the premiers to enlist their support in an all-Canadian approach to managing the fractured U.S. relationship.
“The premiers and the provinces have really stepped up, not just for the provinces, but for our country,” he said. “It’s important to keep the good co-operation between the federal government and the provinces standing up for Canada.”
At a news conference at Queen’s Park on Monday, Mr. Ford congratulated Mr. Carney for winning the federal Liberal leadership.
Mr. Ford said he expects Mr. Carney to call a federal election within 10 to 15 days but said he won’t lend his support to any of the parties.
The Premier said he looked forward to renewed federal leadership and a discussion on major projects, including plans to mine the mineral-rich Ring of Fire area of northern Ontario.
“They need to get behind these nation-building projects so we can build a more prosperous and secure future for Canada,” Mr. Ford said.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, however, accused Mr. Carney of being an enemy to the province’s oil patch as she spoke to reporters at the start of a global energy conference in Houston.
“Mark Carney is responsible for net-zero banking. He’s been on a warpath against the energy industry for his entire career. He’s written a book saying his aspiration is to keep fossil fuels in the ground,” she said, adding she hoped he had changed his mind. She also called for an immediate election.
“I don’t know that he’s changed his tune, but I think he needs to quickly, because the world needs more Alberta oil and gas, and my hope would be that we have an election very quickly in Canada so that we have somebody that has an actual mandate from the people for four years, as we’re going through this turbulent time with the United States.”
Mr. Poilievre sharply criticized Mr. Carney, saying the new leader was trying to distract Canadians from the Liberal record by focusing on Mr. Trump.
He also accused Mr. Carney of overstating his past roles in government, including the work he did as governor of the Bank of Canada during the financial crisis. Mr. Carney was appointed by former prime minister Stephen Harper, who sent out a letter during the campaign criticizing Mr. Carney. Those comments were undercut, however, by repeated examples of Mr. Harper having praised Mr. Carney’s work.
Mr. Poilievre repeated Mr. Harper’s claims on Monday, saying there was a “consistent pattern of Mark Carney lying to the Canadian people.”
“You know what I find interesting about Mark Carney? He doesn’t want to take responsibility for the things he actually did, like advising Trudeau for the last five years, but he wants to take credit for things he did not do, like managing Canada’s financial policies under the Harper government.”
Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne fired back, saying Mr. Poilievre’s name-calling won’t work during an election campaign. “Our largest trading partner is turning its back on us and we have people name-calling. Really, let’s be grown up.”
In the lead-up to Sunday’s vote, Mr. Carney has focused on issues such as staffing the Prime Minister’s Office, cabinet selection, transition to government, recruitment of star candidates and drafting an election platform to take to Canadian voters.
Former Privy Council clerk Janice Charette is heading up the transition team, which will focus on the size of cabinet, updating briefing documents, filing ethics disclosures and lists of decisions to be made by the new government.
With reports from Ian Bailey, Emily Haws and Jeff Jones
Mark Carney, who won the Liberal leadership to replace Justin Trudeau, spoke of the differences between Canadians and Americans in his acceptance speech.
Reuters