Carney may only be at the helm for a few weeks, if not dayspublished at 13:43 Greenwich Mean Time
Nadine Yousif
Reporting from Toronto
Political newcomer Mark Carney scored a decisive victory among members of the Liberal party last week, who chose him to succeed Justin Trudeau with more than 80% of the vote.
But Carney now faces a tougher battle of winning over Canadians across political stripes.
A general election must be held in Canada before October of this year, and whispers around Ottawa suggest that voters could be headed to the polls much, much sooner.
Sources close to Carney have told Canadian media that the new prime minister may call a snap election within days, sending voters to the polls in late April or early May.
The election carries considerable political risk for Carney. He is virtually untested and has never held an elected seat in public office. One of the first questions people will undoubtedly ask is where in the country will Carney choose to run his first-ever federal campaign.
He also faces stiff competition from his rival, Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre, who has led in national polls since mid-2023.
In many ways, Poilievre is the opposite of Carney. He is a career politician who has been a sitting member of parliament for more than 20 years. He is staunchly Conservative, criticising the Liberal policies of the last decade as “disastrous” for the country, while promising a return to “common sense” politics.
Conservatives have already begun their attacks on Carney. They’ve sought to tie him to the deeply-unpopular Justin Trudeau, and in recent weeks, have questioned his loyalty to Canada amid a national swell of patriotism in response to Donald Trump’s tariffs.
