Carney gets down to work as Canada election drumbeat grows

Brian Platt, Bloomberg News on Mar 10, 2025

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OTTAWA, Canada — Mark Carney began laying the groundwork to take over quickly as Canada’s prime minister, with lawmakers and Cabinet ministers holding key meetings Monday after Liberal Party members gave him a resounding mandate as their new leader.

The handover of power from Justin Trudeau to Carney is likely to happen by the end of the week, aides to Trudeau said, speaking on condition they not be identified. The two men had a long meeting where they discussed the trade war with the United States and national security, Carney said. The transition to a new administration “will be seamless and it will be quick,” he said.

Carney arrived at a gathering of the Liberal caucus around 1:30 p.m. Ottawa time to discuss next steps, and Trudeau’s Cabinet was scheduled to meet after that. “We know this is a crucial time for our country. We’re united to serve Canadians and we will build this country,” he said.

Carney, 59, the former governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, won a crushing victory in the Liberal Party leadership contest with more than 85% of the vote. He’ll announce a Cabinet within days — and given the trade war with the U.S. and the short timeline to the next election, he’s likely to keep some current ministers in place to ensure stability, according to people familiar with Carney’s thinking.

Carney hasn’t committed to a general election date, but has previously said he would seek a new mandate from Canadians quickly in order to deal with the ongoing tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. And he has momentum, with the Liberals narrowing the gap on the front-running Conservative Party in recent polls.

If he triggers an election shortly before Parliament returns on March 24, that would mean a voting date in late April or early May.

An election period would create some difficulty in managing a response to further Trump tariffs. Trump has promised a wider set of tariffs to take effect on April 2. During that time, Parliament would be dissolved and the government would be in what’s known as caretaker mode, where it’s supposed to avoid major decisions.

But the caretaker convention still allows the government to respond to emergencies, said Lori Turnbull, a Dalhousie University professor who is an expert in parliamentary governance.

“So if Carney decides that he’s going to respond as he has to respond, he can do those things,” Turnbull said. “He can announce countertariffs.”

Canada currently has retaliatory tariffs in place on C$30 billion ($20.8 billion) worth of U.S. imports to the country, and has threatened to hit another C$125 billion worth of U.S. goods. In his acceptance speech Sunday night, Carney said he would not remove Canada’s existing retaliatory measures until Trump removes the threat of tariffs and commits to free trade with Canada.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has tried to tie Carney to the unpopular Trudeau by pointing out that the former central banker has given the prime minister advice since he left the Bank of England in 2020. Canada is vulnerable in a trade war with the U.S. because the Liberals thwarted business investment and natural resources projects, he suggested.

“We need to unleash our free-enterprise system to reverse the helplessness that the Liberals have caused over the last 10 years of tax and keep-it-in-the ground extremism,” Poilievre told reporters Monday.

Danielle Smith, the premier of Canada’s main oil-producing province of Alberta, urged Carney to call an election immediately.

“At a time when we are facing unprecedented economic challenges with our largest trading partner, Canada deserves and needs a leader with a mandate from Canadians,” she said in a post on X.

Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has said he expects the Liberals to go to the polls to seek a strong mandate quickly. Heading into the caucus meeting Monday, he criticized Poilievre’s tactic of using nicknames such as “Sneaky Carney” and said Canadians want to see unity.

“We don’t want division in our country,” he said. “That would be a good moment now, with a new leader in Canada, to make sure that we push the reset button in Washington in the way they engage with Canada. What we want in Canada is respect.”