Ex-central banker Mark Carney was sworn in as prime minister of Canada on Friday and immediately said he could work with U.S. President Donald Trump, who is promising tariffs that could devastate the Canadian economy.
Carney succeeds Justin Trudeau, who had a combative and often cold relationship with Trump. Carney, 59, made clear his approach would be different.
“We respect President Trump – President Trump has put some very important issues at the top of his agenda. We understand his agenda,” he told reporters after being sworn in, noting he had worked with Trump at international meetings.
Carney said he would visit London and Paris next week. Canada has sought to shore up alliances in Europe as relations with the United States founder.
Carney crushed his rivals on Sunday in a race to become leader of the ruling Liberal Party. He replaces Trudeau, who spent more than nine years in office.
Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, whose shock resignation last December triggered a crisis that helped push out Trudeau, becomes transport minister.
Carney, a former head of both the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, successfully argued his position as an outsider with a history of tackling crises meant he was the best person to take on Trump, who has repeatedly talked about annexing Canada.
“We will never, ever in any way, shape or form, be part of the United States,” he said on Friday.
The cabinet is unlikely in office for long, since Liberal insiders say Carney is set to call a snap election within the next two weeks. If he changes his mind, opposition parties say they will unite to bring down the minority government in a confidence vote at the end of March.
Once the election is called, Carney will be limited in what he can do politically because convention dictates he cannot make major decisions during a campaign.
Opinion polls currently suggest it will be a close race with the Conservatives, with neither party gaining enough seats for a majority government.