Sawt Falasteen - Canada Liberal Party to choose new leader to replace Trudeau as PM

Mark Carney, who served as the governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, is the front-runner to be tapped Liberal leader when results from a vote of party members are announced later Sunday.

The other main challenger is Trudeau's former deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, who held several senior cabinet positions in the Liberal government that was first elected in 2015.

Whoever wins will take over from Trudeau as prime minister, but will soon face an election that polls currently show the rival Conservative Party as slight favorites to win.

Carney has racked up endorsements, including from much of Trudeau's cabinet and more than half of Liberals in parliament.

A Freeland win remains possible but would be a surprise for the party as it heads towards an election that must be held by October, but could come within weeks.

Both Freeland and Carney have maintained that they are the best candidate to defend Canada against Trump's attacks.

The US president has repeatedly spoken about annexing Canada and thrown bilateral trade, the lifeblood of the Canadian economy, into chaos with dizzying tariff actions that have veered in various directions since he took office.

- 'Most serious crisis' -

Party supporters were gathering Sunday at an Ottawa hall draped in red where the winner will be announced.

Luciana Bordignon, a 59-year-old sales representative from Vancouver, told AFP she was backing Carney but was confident the party would be emboldened after the vote.

"I expect to have a good, new, strong leader," she said.

Lozminda Longkines told AFP that Trump's repeated musings about making Canada the 51st US state were "a blessing in disguise."

"We are so united... We have a common enemy," the 71-year old said.

Carney has argued that he is the ideal counter to Trump's disruptions, reminding voters that he led the Bank of Canada through the 2008-2009 financial crisis and steered the Bank of England through the turbulence that followed the 2016 Brexit vote.

Trump "is attacking what we build. He is attacking what we sell. He is attacking how we earn our living," Carney told supporters at a closing campaign rally near Toronto on Friday.

"We are facing the most serious crisis in our lifetime," he added. "Everything in my life has prepared me for this moment."

Data released from the Angus Reid polling firm on Wednesday shows Canadians see Carney as the favorite choice to face off against Trump, potentially offering the Liberals a boost over the opposition Conservatives.

Forty-three percent of respondents said they trusted Carney the most to deal with Trump, with 34 percent backing Tory leader Pierre Poilievre.

Before Trudeau announced his plans to resign in January, the Liberals were headed for an electoral wipeout, but the leadership change and Trump's influence have dramatically tightened the race.

- Not a politician? -

Carney made a fortune as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs before entering the Canadian civil service.

Since leaving the Bank of England in 2020, he has served as a United Nations envoy working to get the private sector to invest in climate-friendly technology and has held private sector roles.

He has never served in parliament or held an elected public office.

Analysts say his untested campaign skills could prove a liability against a Conservative Party already running attack ads accusing Carney of shifting positions and misrepresenting his experience.

The 59-year-old has positioned himself as a new voice untainted by Trudeau, who he has said did not devote enough attention to building Canada's economy.

On Friday, Carney said Canadians "from coast to coast" wanted change, and referred to himself as a political outsider.

"It's getting to the point where after two months I may have to start calling myself a politician," he joked.

In the coming days, Trudeau and the new Liberal chief will visit Canada's Governor General Mary Simon -- King Charles III's official representative in Canada -- who will task the leader with forming a government.

K.AbuDahab--SF-PST