Who is Mark Carney, the new future Prime Minister of Canada?

After 10 years without change, the Liberal Party, a center -left party in power in Canada, appointed a former central banker on Sunday evening, a novice in politics, to replace Justin Trudeau as party leader, making him the Prime Minister. Mark Carney, 59, will be responsible for dealing with the threats of US President Donald Trump. It will probably be necessary to wait a few days for a passing of power to take place between the two men, once the government formed. According to Canadian media, “the enslavement” of Carney and his government are expected to take place on Wednesday.

The former director of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England has largely preceded his opponents in terms of support within the country and funds raised. In recent weeks, only one question has dominated the debates: who is the right person to face Donald Trump and his attacks? “We are faced with the most serious crisis in our life … Everything, in my life, prepared me at that time,” said Mark Carney for his last meeting on Friday.

Priority to economic recovery and ecology

It is this message of experienced man accustomed to managing crises, hammered throughout his campaign, which seems to have borne fruit when the country is turned upside down by a historic crisis with its powerful neighbor. The American president launched a trade war by imposing customs duties on Canadian products and continues to say that he wants Canada to become the “51st American state”. These attacks exasperate Canadians, many of whom give up their trip to the south of the border and boycott American products.

Son of teachers who grew up in Alberta, Mark Carney did brilliant studies of economics: in Harvard, in the United States, in 1988, thanks to a scholarship, then Oxford, in England, where he won a doctorate in 1995 and meets his wife, Diana Fox, also an economist. The couple have four daughters.

Carney began his career at the investment bank Goldman Sachs, where he will occupy various positions in London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto between 1988 and 2003, including that of Director General of Investment Banking Services. In 2003, he became a sub-target of the Bank of Canada, then the senior finance delegate under minister (2004-2007). In 2008, in the midst of a global financial crisis, he was appointed governor of the Bank of Canada, allowing the Canadian economy to get out of it better than other G7 countries.

When he left the Central Bank of Canada, Carney returned to the United Kingdom to lead the Bank of England (2013-2020). He is the first non-British (he acquired nationality by his wife) to lead the institution, a mandate marked by Brexit of 2016 and a tumultuous period on the economic level. Since his return to Canada, he has shared between sometimes unofficial functions of politicians and activities in the private sector. Since the resignation of Trudeau, he has campaigned on his public balance sheet: “I helped manage several crises and I helped save two savings. I know how business works and I know how to make them work for you, ”he said in January.

The Prime Minister at the time, Stephen Harper, recently accused Mark Carney of wrongly attributing the merit of having released the Canadian economy of the 2008 global financial crisis while the Minister of Finance at the time, Jim Flaherty, would have taken difficult decisions. The attack was interpreted in the Carney camp as an attempt to save the electoral chances of the conservative chief, Pierre Hairyvre, in the federal elections.

Elections in the year, at the latest in October

These must be held at the latest in October but they could be triggered more quickly and they promise to be more disputed than expected. Very unpopular and judged responsible in particular for strong inflation and the housing crisis, the Liberals of Trudeau and Carney, who posted more than 20 points behind in January in the voting intentions, are today in the elbow with the conservatives.

According to a survey by the Angus Reid Institute published on Wednesday, Mark Carney is the favorite choice of Canadians to face Donald Trump, with 43 % of those questioned who plebiscite him against 34 % for the leader of the Conservatives, Pierre Hairyvre. This one, who had the wind in the sails in recent months, seems to be losing ground in this new political context. “His populist rhetoric”, who recalls that of Donald Trump, disturbs part of the Canadians, explains Daniel Béland, professor of political science at McGill University in Montreal. Conversely, Mark Carney’s international experience and its calm, “almost annoying” side are reassuring for many Canadians.