Mark Carney sworn in as Canada's prime minister, says he can work with Trump

Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada Mark Carney signs documents during his swearing-in ceremony as Canada's next Prime Minister at an event in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, March 14, 2025. REUTERS/Blair Gable
Ex-central banker Mark Carney was
sworn in as prime minister of Canada on Friday and immediately said he could
work with U.S. President Donald Trump, who is promising tariffs that could
devastate the Canadian economy.
Carney succeeds Justin Trudeau,
who had a combative and often cold relationship with Trump. Carney, 59, made
clear his approach would be different.
"We respect President Trump
- President Trump has put some very important issues at the top of his agenda.
We understand his agenda," he told reporters after being sworn in, noting
he had worked with Trump at international meetings.
"In many respects, part of
my experience overlaps with that of the President - we're both looking out for
our countries. But he knows, and I know from long experience, that we can find
mutual solutions that win for both," he said.
Carney, who said he had no
immediate plans to talk to the president, also said Trump administration talk
of annexing Canada was "crazy".
He reshaped his 24-person cabinet
with a view to dealing with Washington, cutting almost half the ministerial
positions he inherited from Trudeau.
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc
moved to the international trade portfolio and was replaced by current
Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly
stays in her post.
The next election must be held by
October 20 and the Liberals will face the opposition Conservatives, who had
long campaigned against a Trudeau-era consumer carbon tax. Carney, who promised
to scrap the measure, signed an order eliminating it during his first cabinet
meeting.
"This will make a difference
to hard-pressed Canadians," he told cabinet.
Carney's appointment caps a
momentous rise for a man who becomes the first Canadian prime minister without
any serious political experience. Carney said he would visit London and Paris
next week. Canada has sought to shore up alliances in Europe as relations with
the United States founder.
Carney crushed his rivals on
Sunday in a race to become leader of the ruling Liberal Party. He replaces
Trudeau, who spent more than nine years in office.
Former finance minister Chrystia
Freeland, whose shock resignation last December triggered a crisis that helped
push out Trudeau, becomes transport minister.
Carney, a former head of both the
Bank of Canada and Bank of England, successfully argued his position as an
outsider with a history of tackling crises meant he was the best person to take
on Trump, who has repeatedly talked about annexing Canada.
"We will never, ever in any
way, shape or form, be part of the United States," he said on Friday.
The cabinet is unlikely in office
for long, since Liberal insiders say Carney is set to call a snap election
within the next two weeks. If he changes his mind, opposition parties say they
will unite to bring down the minority government in a confidence vote at the
end of March.
Once the election is called,
Carney will be limited in what he can do politically because convention
dictates he cannot make major decisions during a campaign.
Opinion polls currently suggest
it will be a close race with the Conservatives, with neither party gaining
enough seats for a majority government.
Until recently the Conservatives
had enjoyed a double-digit lead in opinion polls, in large part due to
unhappiness over a spike in living costs and a housing crisis.
"100% of Carney's ministers
were in Trudeau's caucus — helping hike carbon taxes and double the debt,
housing costs and food bank lineups," said Conservative leader Pierre
Poilievre, in a post on X.
"A Liberal is a Liberal is a
Liberal."
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