Former central banker Mark Carney claimed a landslide victory on Sunday to lead Canada’s Liberal Party and become its next prime minister, setting him up for a clash with the Trump administration.
Liberal party members bet on Carney as the man best placed to take on US President Donald Trump, who has threatened annexation as well as launching a trade war and punishing tariffs on the longtime ally.
Liberal sources say Carney - who arrived on Parliament Hill yesterday to meet outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – will soon call for a general election.
“The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country ... if they succeed, they will destroy our way of life,” Carney said in his acceptance speech late Sunday.
Carney, who has no political experience, is normally more reserved than Trudeau, who often had a combative relationship with Trump.
The United States is due to slap a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum tomorrow. Ottawa imposed a 25pc tariff on C$30 billion worth of US imports when Trump last month announced his initial tariff plans.
“My government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect,” Carney said on Sunday.
Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, said yesterday it was imposing a 25pc surcharge on electricity exports to New York state, Michigan and Minnesota in protest.
“President Trump’s tariffs are a disaster for the US economy. They’re making life more expensive for American families and businesses,” Premier Doug Ford said in a statement.
“Until the threat of tariffs is gone for good, Ontario won’t back down.”
Ford told reporters that he would not hesitate to cut off electricity exports if need be. The surcharge affects power exports to 1.5 million homes in the three US states.
Trump’s move to impose tariffs has triggered an angry backlash in Canada, where provinces pulled US alcohol off the shelves and urged people to buy Canadian.
Carney won with 86pc of the votes cast by party members.
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