If you keep track of<\/a> international finance<\/span> or economics, you have probably heard the name Mark Carney.<\/p>\n In 2008, he was appointed<\/span> Governor of the Bank of Canada\u2014Canada\u2019s central bank. He was responsible for monetary policy<\/span>, managing government debt<\/span>, and, critically, the stability<\/span> of Canada\u2019s financial system<\/span>. <\/p>\n And he took over<\/a> at the beginning of a major financial crisis<\/span>, when banks around the world failed<\/span> and economies slid<\/span> into a deep recession<\/span>. Canada was able to avoid the worst of the pain; it got off easier than the U.S. and many countries in Europe, and Carney was widely praised<\/span> for his steady leadership<\/span>. <\/p>\n He was held in such high esteem<\/span> that in 2013, he was appointed to the very<\/a> same job, only this time at the Bank of England\u2014the central bank of the United Kingdom, a much larger economy. That made him the first non-British citizen to lead<\/span> the U.K.\u2019s central bank, and the only person ever<\/a> to head the central banks of two different countries. <\/p>\n The U.K. job turned out<\/span> to be a tougher<\/span> job than even he expected. That\u2019s because he was in office<\/span> during the U.K.\u2019s vote to leave the European Union, called Brexit<\/a>. Before the vote, he argued against<\/span> Brexit. But after the vote, he helped stabilize<\/span> the British economy during its messy divorce<\/span> from the EU. Brexit negatively impacted<\/span> the British economy, but it was far less bad than it might have been.<\/p>\n So Mark Carney led one central bank through the financial crisis, and then another through Brexit. That made him a bit of a star in the world of international finance. Many Canadians were proud<\/span> that one of their own<\/span> had done so well on the global stage<\/span>. After his time at the Bank of England, he worked for a United Nations agency<\/span> on climate finance<\/span>.<\/p>\n But in early 2025, Mark Carney went back to Canada, became prime minister, and then led his Liberal party to a shocking comeback<\/span> in an election his party was all but<\/a> certain to lose. How did that happen?<\/p>\n Canada has two big political parties<\/span>\u2014the Liberals on the left and the Conservatives on the right. There are also smaller parties, the New Democrat Party, and the regional Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois, which advocates<\/span> for French-speaking<\/a> Quebec. <\/p>\n The Liberals are the most successful party in Canada\u2019s history. They have been in power for 65 of the last 100 years. But in early 2025, they were in trouble. The party was coming to the end<\/span> of its third consecutive term in power\u2014and it showed<\/span>. <\/p>\n The public was growing tired of<\/span> Liberal governance. The prime minister, Justin Trudeau, was deeply unpopular<\/span>. Voters were frustrated<\/span> with the cost of housing<\/span>, high and rising taxes<\/span>, and a slowing economy<\/span>. Many thought Trudeau was too worried about social issues<\/span>, and some were irritated by<\/span> his preachy demeanor<\/span>.<\/p>\nSouth of the border<\/span>, Donald Trump had just won his second term in office. And Canada had its own mini-Trump: Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative party. He threatened<\/span> to take money<\/span> away from universities, reduce foreign aid<\/span>, limit tax increases<\/span>, and crack down on<\/a> illegal drug use. Like Trump, he held large rallies<\/span>, gave his opponents belittling names<\/span>, and bashed<\/span> the news media.<\/p>\n This approach<\/span> seemed to be working. The Conservatives started the year with an almost-30-point polling lead<\/span>. They were on course<\/span> to win a national election for the first time since 2011; the Liberals were facing a near-death experience<\/span>.<\/p>\n But then two things happened. First, Justin Trudeau resigned<\/span> as prime minister. That meant that he, the unpopular incumbent<\/span>, would not lead his party into the next election. The second thing that happened is that Donald Trump imposed tariffs<\/a> on Canada, and started taunting<\/span> America\u2019s northern neighbor<\/span>, saying Canada should become America\u2019s fifty-first state.<\/p>\n Mark Carney spotted his opportunity<\/span>. He wasn\u2019t even living in Canada, but he left his job in London and moved to Ottawa, Canada\u2019s capital. He ran for the leadership of the Liberal party, leveraging<\/span> his reputation for competence<\/span> and steady leadership. He won, filling the vacuum<\/a> left by Trudeau\u2019s resignation<\/span>. That made him prime minister even though<\/a> he wasn\u2019t a member of Canada\u2019s parliament.<\/p>\n He called an election for April 28, and the official campaign lasted just 36 days. He pivoted<\/span> the Liberal party away from some of the more unpopular Trudeau-era policies, like a carbon tax<\/span>. And he rallied Canada behind<\/span> an anti-American and anti-Trump message. He said Canada should keep its \u201celbows up.\u201d That\u2019s a reference<\/span> to a physical posture<\/span> in ice hockey, Canada\u2019s national sport. When you have your elbows<\/span> up, you\u2019re ready to defend yourself<\/span>.<\/p>\n He hammered the point<\/span> home on the campaign trail<\/span>: \u201cAmerica wants our land, our resources<\/span>, our water.\u201d He convinced Canadians that he was the right person<\/span> to defend Canada\u2019s national sovereignty<\/span> and negotiate<\/span> with and against Trump on matters<\/span> of trade and national security.<\/p>\n He said, more in sadness<\/span> than in anger, \u201cThe 80-year period when the United States embraced<\/span>\u2026global economic leadership\u2026is over. While this is a tragedy, it is also the new reality.\u201d He said that Canada needs to get over the \u201cAmerican betrayal<\/span>,\u201d adding, \u201cThis is Canada and we decide what happens here.\u201d<\/p>\n Pierre Poilievre was caught off guard<\/span>. He had carefully honed his attack lines<\/span> on Justin Trudeau, only to lose his easy opponent at the last minute<\/a>. His Trumpian rhetoric<\/span>, once a strength<\/span>, became a liability<\/span> amid Trump\u2019s tariffs and fifty-first state taunts<\/span>. <\/p>\n In the final weeks of the campaign, Poilievre tried to soften his tone<\/span>, but it was too little and too late<\/span>. He never could bring himself to<\/span> fully denounce<\/span> Trump. He presided over<\/a> a last-minute collapse in support<\/span> and even lost his own seat in Parliament.<\/p>\n In the end<\/a>, the Liberals won the election, though they fell just short of a majority. That means they will need to work with smaller parties to pass legislation<\/span>, as they have in their two most recent terms.<\/p>\n A couple more biographical details<\/span> about Mark Carney. He was born in a town called Fort Smith, Canada. It\u2019s in the Northwest Territories. He\u2019s the first PM to be born in the territories\u2014Canada\u2019s vast, sparsely populated north.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re by your computer, I want you to look at Fort Smith, Canada, on a map<\/a>. That is way, way north. The population of the town is about 2,000. But even that doesn\u2019t do justice<\/a>to how small the place is\u2014the nearest large town is several hours drive away. <\/p>\n His parents were both teachers. He grew up in Edmonton, which is the capital of the province of Alberta. As a kid, he wanted to be an ice hockey player. He has degrees from Harvard and Oxford. I mentioned he\u2019s the only person to lead the central banks of two countries. He\u2019s also the only person to head a central bank and then be elected as head of a government. He\u2019s just 60 years old and had never held any elective office<\/span> before becoming prime minister.<\/p>\n He openly admits that he needs to work on his French\u2014usually that would be a liability in Quebec, but the Liberals did pretty well in the French-speaking province this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mark Carney, former head of the central banks of Canada and the UK, led Canada’s struggling Liberal party to an improbable, come-from-behind victory in the 2025 elections. He focused his campaign on protecting Canada\u2019s interests, after Donald Trump imposed tariffs and threatened to make Canada the 51st American state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":27854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"lesson_category":[152],"lesson_number":[2581],"terminology_tag":[],"content_tag":[],"topics":[2592,2583],"class_list":["post-27852","lessons","type-lessons","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","lesson_category-politics","lesson_number-2581","topics-latest-news","topics-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJeff\u2019s take<\/h3>\n