The first non-British and a former governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has announced that he will run for Prime Minister of Canada.
Mr. Carney made the announcement following Justin Trudeau’s resignation.
Mr. Trudeau will remain Prime Minister until a new Liberal Party leader is elected on March 9.
Mr. Carney, 59, is a highly educated economist with Wall Street experience who is widely credited with steering Canada through the worst of the 2008 financial crisis while serving as its central bank governor.
During his seven-year time as Bank of England governor, he also helped the United Kingdom deal with Brexit.
The front-runners for the Liberal Party leadership are Mr. Carney and former Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland, whose abrupt resignation last month forced Trudeau’s exit.
The next Liberal leader could be the shortest-tenured Prime Minister in the country’s history.
All three opposition parties have vowed to bring down the Liberals’ minority government in a no-confidence vote after parliament resumes on March 24.
Mr. Trudeau announced his resignation on Jan. 6 after facing an increasing loss of support both within his party and in the country.
Mr. Carney quickly launched into an attack on opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who the polls show has a large lead over the Liberals.
The opposition Conservative party was ready for Mr. Carney’s announcement, releasing a new digital ad branding him as “carbon tax Carney” just hours before he spoke — a reference to his history of supporting carbon pricing policies.
An official close to Freeland said she would scrap the consumer carbon tax and instead make big polluters pay.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak publicly ahead of her announcement.
More recently, Mr. Carney served as the U.N.’s special envoy for climate change and led an alliance of international financial institutions pushing for carbon-cutting measures.
He has long championed the notion that making companies accountable for their impact on the planet is the first step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
As the head of Canada’s central bank, Mr. Carney was credited with keeping the economy afloat by swiftly lowering interest rates to their lowest point ever and collaborating with Canadian bankers to continue lending during the crisis, and—most importantly—informing the public that rates would stay low so they would continue borrowing.
He was also the first central banker to pledge to maintain them at a historically low level for an extended period of time; the U.S. Federal Reserve would later adopt this stance.
Like other central bankers, Mr. Carney is a former Goldman Sachs executive. He worked for 13 years in London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto, before being appointed deputy governor of the Bank of Canada in 2003. He has both financial industry and government credentials.
He has long been interested in entering politics and becoming prime minister but lacked political experience.
