OTTAWA — Mark Carney has now officially launched his bid to become the next Liberal leader, after years of flirting with the idea of joining the party.
Carney, a former governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, made his announcement in a community centre in Edmonton on Thursday. He was joined by Calgary Liberal MP George Chahal, one of the two members of caucus in Alberta.
A source close to Carney said he would represent not only change, by bringing forward new ideas and perspectives to the party, but also a credible voice on the economy.
As governor of the Bank of Canada, Carney steered Canada through the 2008 global financial crisis which saw the country bounce back faster than its peer countries. Later, heading the Bank of England, he dealt with the fallout from the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union.
In the past decade, Carney has been the subject of intense speculation on his intentions of joining the Liberal party but never ended up joining Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s team.
He has, however, advised Trudeau on the COVID-19 economic response in 2020 and was appointed to chair Trudeau’s task force on economic growth last September. In December, he was reportedly interested in replacing Chrystia Freeland as finance minister.
But Freeland resigned from cabinet after being told she would be shuffled out of her portfolio, sparking a political crisis which ultimately led to Trudeau resigning.
Carney has already garnered the support of at least 30 MPs in the Liberal caucus.
To date, Chahal, Wayne Long, Francesco Sorbara, Sophie Chatel, Salma Zahid, Iqwinder Gaheer, Sameer Zuberi, Parm Bains, Patrick Weiler, Sukh Dhaliwal and Shafqat Ali have either publicly confirmed or told the National Post they want Carney as leader.
Former deputy prime minister and Edmonton MP Anne McLellan also said in a social media post that she is supporting Carney — calling him a proud Canadian and Albertan.
Minutes before Carney’s launch, Conservatives launched a new advertisement touting the former banker as “Carbon Tax Carney” and saying that he is “just like Justin.”
Prospective candidates have until Jan. 23 to register to run and until Jan. 27 to sign up new members. The next Liberal leader will be announced on March 9.
Freeland and Liberal House leader Karina Gould are also expected to launch their leadership bids in the next few days.
National Post
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