New Canadian leader faces Trump conflict concerns

Daily Report March 10,2025

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In a preemptive strike against newly elected Liberal Party leader Mark Carney, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre launched a scathing critique, suggesting Carney’s business ties in America would compromise future negotiations with President Donald Trump.

At a Sunday gathering, Poilievre warned, “Donald Trump will have a big smile on his face as he exploits all of Carney’s many conflicts to attack Canadian workers and Canadian jobs.”

The Liberal Party’s internal election on Sunday witnessed Carney’s overwhelming victory, securing nearly 86 percent of member votes despite never holding public office. The election dealt a particularly harsh blow to former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who managed only eight percent support after her dramatic December resignation preceded Trudeau’s announcement to step down from his decade-long leadership.

In his victory address, Carney delivered a mixed message, simultaneously calling for national transformation while defending the decade-long Liberal governance. He offered effusive praise for Trudeau, noting that he “combined strength and compassion every day as a fighter for Canada.”

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Pierre Poilievre says Mark Carney will “sell out Canada for his personal profit.” pic.twitter.com/y1r0S2zdRE

— Juno News (@junonewscom) March 10, 2025

“You have led us through some of the hardest challenges that this nation has ever faced,” Carney said to Trudeau. “I pledge to you and to all Canadians that I will follow their example.”

Speaking in London, Ontario, ahead of Carney’s victory, Poilievre attacked the incoming leader’s association with Trudeau and his economic record. He characterized Carney’s selection as a calculated move by the Liberals to secure a fourth term, highlighting Carney’s role in policies that allegedly increased taxes and living costs while benefiting American interests.

Poilievre’s strategy appeared to tap into growing anti-American sentiment amid ongoing tariff disputes with Trump. He portrayed Carney as compromised by his American financial interests, predicting these connections would disadvantage Canada in future negotiations.

The transition period ahead remains complex, as Carney will assume the prime ministership without holding a Parliament seat – an unusual circumstance in Canada’s parliamentary system. Elections must be called by October’s end, potentially reshaping both Parliament and the prime ministership.

Parliament remains frozen under prorogation since January, though this suspension may conclude before its scheduled March 24 end date.

Carney brings extensive financial experience as former head of both the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, along with informal advisory roles to Trudeau. His Harvard connections and recent resignation from the university’s governing board marked his formal entry into Canadian politics.

His climate activism has been particularly notable. In an April 2020 piece for The Economist, Carney wrote, “[C]limate change is an issue that (i) involves the entire world, from which no one will be able to self-isolate; (ii) is predicted by science to be the central risk tomorrow; and (iii) we can only address if we act in advance and in solidarity.”

This exchange between Pierre Poilievre & Mark Carney was almost 4yrs ago, when Carney was at Brookfield & advising the Liberal government.

Carney supports making billions on foreign pipelines while suppressing Canada’s potential for virtue signalling ideological alliances with… pic.twitter.com/zvmdrXACbo

— Stacey (@StaceyMonette27) February 27, 2025

In February 2021, he predicted that “from a human mortality perspective, it will be the equivalent of a coronavirus crisis every year from the middle of this century, and every year, not just a one-off event.”

Recent polls show Conservative support waning as leftist parties link them to Trump’s tariff policies. This has forced Conservatives to oppose Trump while promoting similar nationalist policies.

Poilievre stated in February, “Common Sense Conservatives condemn President Trump’s massive, unjust and unjustified tariffs which will damage both American and Canadian economies.”

“We share the longest undefended border and fought alongside Americans in two world wars, Korea and Afghanistan, where 158 of our brave men and women died helping the U.S. avenge the 9/11 attacks,” he added. “There is no justification whatsoever for these tariffs, this treatment.”

To counter American trade pressures, Poilievre advocates streamlining inter-provincial commerce regulations to strengthen domestic trade.