Mark Carney, the next leader of Canada, is relatively a beginner politician from a career of decades in finance, where he has led governments for great global crises and periods of turbulence-an experience that he hopes to take advantage of now while preparing to take the place of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It is a history that can put in a good position as Canada seeks to contain an imminent economic confrontation with its neighboring giant – US President Donald Trump’s trade war.
Carnery went to lead Canada’s liberal party in the next federal elections later this year. Although he has never competed for an elective position before, rumors have been circulating for years – and when – he could venture into politics.
The liberals have been courted by over a decade, and it advised Trudeau about Canada’s economic recovery from Covid-19. But the banker who became a politician did not make his official entrance until Trudeau announced his resignation in January.
All of its competitors were acting politicians: Carry is in the unusual situation of becoming Prime Minister of Canada without having a chair in Parliament.
But first of all, he was born in Fort Smith, northwest territories, and was created in Edmonton, Alberta. His parents were teachers and – faithful to their Canadian roots – he played ice hockey as a goalkeeper as he grew up, according to his campaign site.
He then went to the United States to graduate from Economics at Harvard University before doing a master’s degree and a doctorate in economics at Oxford University.
He spent 13 years working for Goldman Sachs, traveling between the company’s offices in London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto, according to a profile of the Canada Bank, to which he joined in 2003.
In 2008, he was serving as governor of the Central Bank of Canada, taking office while the world faced the great recession.
During his campaign to lead the Liberal Party, Carry pointed out this moment as evidence of his experience in dealing with crises, saying on his site that he helped protect jobs and stabilize the Canadian economy.
When he finished his five-year term, he was hired by the Bank of England to be a governor-the first non-brithanic person to occupy the position.
Defender of Climate Change
The following years were also marked by crises, with the British public voting to leave the European Union. In speeches before the 2016 referendum, Carry warned about the economic impact Brexit would have in the country. He left the Bank of England in 2020 after almost seven years in office.
After becoming the UN special envoy for climate action and finance in 2019, he argued that the financial sector invested in zero net emissions.
“When I became governor of the Bank of England, which supervised the insurance sector, I saw that the number of extreme climate events had tripled and the cost of these events had increased five times in a quarter of a century. These things really concentrated my mind in the mood. ”
Mark Carnery, in an interview on the UN website
Since then, he has made clean energy, climate policies and economic prosperity to Canada some of the central facets of his campaign, emphasizing that being low carbon will help Canada be more competitive.
He proposed transferring the financial burden of consumer carbon tax to large corporations and said that under their leadership the tax that Canadian consumers and small companies pay on fuel would be replaced by incentives to reduce carbon emissions.
Some experts believe that Carry’s formation can make it especially suitable for office, while Canada fights a sour relationship with the US and a growing trade war.
“He is very competent in economics, so with these, this economic war, many people are supporting him,” said Charles-Etienne Beaudy, professor of political science at the University of Ottawa and author of “Radio Trump: How He Won The First Time.”
Since 25% US fees over Canada were announced last month, Carney has been a declared defender of dollar dollar retaliatory tariffs.
He addressed the issue on Sunday in his first comments after the vote, criticizing the Trump government’s plans.
Trump is “attacking Canadian families, workers and companies, and we can’t let him succeed and we won’t do it,” he said.
“In commerce, as in hockey, Canada will win,” he added.
