Who is Mark Carney? Liberal leader set to succeed Justin Trudeau as Canada’s next PM
World | Trending | Securing a decisive victory in the leadership race, Carney defeated former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland by winning 86 per cent of the votes cast.
After being elected as the new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Mark Carney is set to become the country’s next prime minister. Carney, the former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor, will succeed Justin Trudeau, who stepped down earlier this year.
Securing a decisive victory in the leadership race, Carney defeated former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland by winning 86 per cent of the votes cast.
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Who is Mark Carney?
Born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada, in 1965, Carney grew up in Edmonton, Alberta. He moved to the United States, where he pursued economics at Harvard University. He is also a passionate ice hockey player and served as a backup goalie for the university’s team during his education.
He completed his master’s degree and a doctorate in economics from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom in 1995.
In 2008, he became the Governor of the Bank of Canada and helped navigate the financial crisis in the country. In 2010, he gained recognition by being named among the world’s 25 most influential leaders in Time magazine. He was also honoured as the “Most Trusted Canadian” in 2011 by Reader’s Digest Canada and named Central Bank Governor of the Year in Euromoney magazine the following year.
Carney moved to the United Kingdom in 2013 and took over the role of Governor of the Bank of England, becoming the first non-British citizen to head the institution, where he served until 2020.
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In recent years, he took on various crucial roles like the United Nations' Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance and Head of Transition Investing at Brookfield Asset Management. He then left the positions to pursue leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Carney is married to Diana Fox, a British economist whom he met during his course at the University of Oxford. She holds dual UK and Canadian citizenship and comes from a British pig-farming family. Together, they have four daughters and have been living in Ottawa.
He holds Canadian, UK, and Irish citizenships but has suggested intentions of giving up the latter two. While Canadian law does not mandate it, the move is considered politically prudent.
(With inputs from agencies)
