Economist Mark Carney is set to automatically become Canada’s next prime minister after winning the Liberal Party leadership race, even though he hasn’t participated in a general election.
Justin Trudeau’s Successor Is a Former Central Banker and CBDC Proponent
Mark Carney, a former central banker, crypto sceptic, and central bank digital currency (CBDC) advocate, clinched 86% of votes in Canada’s controversial Liberal Party leadership election on Sunday, putting him in line to become Canada’s 24th Prime Minister.
To be clear, Carney will become an unelected prime minister since no general election has taken place yet, only a Liberal Party leadership race. The ex-central bank chief will now face off with popular Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, most likely in May, at which point, an officially elected prime minister will be chosen by the general public.
(Conservative Party Lead Pierre Poilievre is still heavily favored to win the Prime Minister nomination in Canada’s next general election / Polymarket)
Carney, a 59-year-old economist who obtained his PhD in Economics at the University of Oxford, according to his Linkedin profile, is a staunch climate activist and longtime World Economic Forum (WEF) board member. However, he is mostly known for being governor of Canada’s central bank from 2007 to 2013 and governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020.
He was part of Justin Trudeau’s inner circle, having been an informal economic advisor to the outgoing prime minister since 2020 and providing economic advisory to the Liberal Party in a more formal capacity since September 2024. Carney is also godfather to the son of Canada’s former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, once considered Trudeau’s most loyal lieutenant, before she resigned unceremoniously in December.
(Chrystia Freeland – seen here elbow-touching with Justin Trudeau – is very close with Mark Carney, who is her son’s godfather / Canadian Prime Minister’s Office)
According to the Fraser Institute, Trudeau has the “worst economic growth record in recent Canadian history.” The National Post said “Trudeau is Canada’s worst prime minister” ever, based on the publication’s polling data.
The negative sentiment around the former drama teacher led to his resignation in January, opening the door to Carney’s appointment as prime minister-designate on Sunday.
Carney on Crypto and CBDCs
“Cryptocurrencies act as money, at best, only for some people and to a limited extent, and even then, only in parallel with the traditional currencies,” Carney said in a 2018 speech while tackling a question about how successful cryptocurrencies have been in playing the role of money. “The short answer is they are failing,” he added.
However, regarding the potential of CBDCs, Carney’s response, albeit three years later during a different speech, was much more enthusiastic.
“The potential superiority of CBDCs from a public interest perspective is reinforced by the undesirability of currency competition at heart of the system,” Carney said. “Any native crypto currencies of sufficient scale will be dominated by CBDCs.”
