5 Takeaways From Carney’s Liberal Leadership Win

Mark Carney, who is now prime minister-designate, and his family at the Liberal leadership event in Ottawa on March 9, 2025. Dave Chan/AFP via Getty Images

As predicted by the polls, former central banker Mark Carney won the Liberal leadership election on March 9 and is set to become Canada’s 24th prime minister.

From the scale of his win to notable items in his victory speech, here are five takeaways from Carney’s win.

Landslide Win

Carney won on the first ballot with 85.9 percent of the 151,899 votes cast by Liberals. He also won in all 343 ridings, meaning even in the home ridings of his leadership rivals.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland, whose very public resignation from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet was the catalyst leading to his ouster, received just 8.0 percent of the votes, putting her in second place.

Former Liberal House Leader Karina Gould, whose policies were more on the left compared to the other candidates, and who was the only candidate who took some soft jabs at Carney during the leadership debates, received 3.2 percent of the votes. This was only slightly higher than that received by former Liberal MP Frank Baylis, who left public office in 2019, with 3 percent of the votes.

In 2022, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre also won his party’s leadership contest with a wide margin, taking 68.2 percent of the 417,635 votes cast, with former Quebec Premier Jean Charest coming in a distant second with 16.1 percent of the votes.

Poilievre won in 330 of the then-total 338 ridings.

Comments on ‘Americans’ as PM-Designate

Similar to during the leadership campaign, U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and his comments about wanting Canada to be the 51st U.S. state loomed large in Carney’s victory speech at the leadership event in Ottawa on March 9.

But the prime minister-designate extended his comments to “Americans” during his speech.

“Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country. Think about it, if they succeeded, they would destroy our way of life,” Carney said, before listing the differences he sees between the two countries.

“In America, health care is a big business. In Canada, it is a right. America is a melting pot, Canada is a mosaic,” he said.

“In the U.S., differences are not respected or recognized, First Nations aren’t recognized, and the French language would never have any rights.”

Trump has said he is using tariffs to push Canada and Mexico to stop the flow of fentanyl and illegal immigrants through their borders into the United States, and also to reciprocate what his administration sees as unfair trade practices. He has also said he wants Canada to be a part of the United States, saying that he may use “economic force” as part of that.

Again referencing “Americans,” Carney said that “in trade as in hockey, Canada will win.”

“America is not Canada, and Canada never, ever will be part of America in any way, shape, or form,” he said.

He added that he supports Canada’s retaliatory tariffs against the United States, and that he would continue that policy.

As he had done during his leadership campaign, he again called the confrontation with the United States “the greatest crisis of our lifetime,” and used notable terms to describe the current situation.

“These are dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust,” he said.

Trudeau Policies - Yays and Nays

During the campaign, Carney tried to distance himself from Trudeau; the Liberals had seen a sharp drop in the polls and the caucus had called for Trudeau’s ouster.

Carney had said that he has a “different focus for Canada” than Trudeau, and that he wants to cut government spending and focus on the economy.

During his victory speech, he said he has heard from Canadians that they want “change,” and that they’re concerned about cost-of-living issues and the housing crisis.

Referring to key Trudeau government policies, he repeated his campaign promise to remove the capital gains tax hike as well as the consumer-facing carbon tax. Carney has said his government will have a strong focus on net-zero emissions policies, but will put the costs for emissions on big businesses.

Conversely, during his speech he also celebrated some key Trudeau policies, including subsidized childcare, as well as the dental care and pharmacare programs that the Liberals brought in during their supply-and-confidence agreement with the NDP.

Talking about his broader policy visions for the country, Carney said he prioritizes “fiscal responsibility” and “social justice.” He repeated his focal points on removing interprovincial trade barriers, building more homes, making Canada “an energy superpower in both clean and conventional energy,” and diversifying trade partners.

“I care about the economy, not because I am an economist, but because I care about people,” he said.

Attack Points Against Poilievre

With the Liberals and Conservatives engaging in intense criticism toward each other, the upcoming federal election will be heavy on negative ads from each side.

Similar to while he was campaigning for the leadership race, Carney’s speech was strongly critical of Poilievre, who will now be his main rival as Canada goes into a federal election this year.

Carney said Poilievre wants to weaken Canada’s economy, claiming that intention is similar to that held by Trump, and said Poilievre has not worked in the private sector, having been a lifelong politician.

He also criticized the Conservative leader for wanting to defund the CBC and cut foreign aid funding, and claimed Poilievre will allow “our planet to burn.”

The Conservatives held their own rally in London, Ont., on March 9, during which Poilievre took shots at Carney, claiming that he will simply continue Trudeau’s agenda and weaken Canada’s economy.

Poilievre says Carney was advising the Liberal government while it was driving up taxes and causing cost-of-living increases, and that he saw the financial firm Brookfield Asset Management move its headquarters from Canada to the United States while he was chair of the major financial corporation.

Tribute to Trudeau, Chrétien

Although previously Carney tacitly criticized Trudeau’s policies, saying the country can’t achieve its full potential with the “ideas of the far-left,” he thanked and praised the outgoing prime minister in his speech.

“Prime Minister Trudeau, my time doesn’t permit me to recognize all your accomplishments,” he said.

“You have combined strength and compassion everyday as a fighter for Canada. You have led us through some of the hardest challenges that this nation has ever faced.”

He also credited former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, who attended and spoke at the event, with inspiring his family to become Liberal supporters, and noted his father ran as a Liberal candidate in Alberta in the 1980s.

“You inspired me over the years, and now to have an opportunity to continue your tradition of fiscal responsibility, social justice, and international leadership,” Carney said.