Whoever succeeds Trudeau in Canada could face an immediate test. The country’s next federal election is due by October, but it is thought likely that the vote will take place earlier. The opposition Conservative Party, led by Pierre Poillevre, currently enjoys a double-digit lead in opinion polls.
Trudeau himself recently acknowledged that he had long tried to recruit Mr. Carney to his team, most recently as finance minister. “He would be a great addition at a time when Canadians need good people to energize their politics,” he said last year.
Mr Carney will also bring environmental expertise to bear through his role as the United Nations’ special envoy for climate action, having recently called the net zero goal “the greatest commercial opportunity of our time”.
He is a proponent of some Liberal policies that have been unpopular in the country’s conservative circles, such as a federal carbon tax, the party’s signature climate policy, which critics say is a financial burden on Canadians.
He was also critical of Pouillyeur, saying the Conservative leader’s vision for the country’s future was “without a plan” and “only slogans”.
Other candidates seen as credible replacements for Trudeau include his former deputy Chrystia Freeland, who resigned from cabinet after falling out with the prime minister’s office in December, and Transportation Minister Anita Anand, a lawyer who in 2019.
