Mark Carney, one of the world’s most prominent central bankers and an evangelist of green investment, announced on Thursday that he was running to be leader of Canada’s Liberal Party and the country’s next prime minister. If he wins, he would lead the party into national elections this year.
“I’m here to ask for your support,” Mr. Carney, 59, said as he announced his candidacy in Edmonton, Alberta. “I’m here to earn your trust.’’
Mr. Carney also said the country faced major challenges that he was prepared to take on. “My generation of Canadians is lucky,” he said. “We had a good time. A time to prosper. The system that our parents built worked well for us. But those good old times, my friends, are over. Our times are anything but ordinary.”
Canadian politics have been in turmoil since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement this month that he intended to step down, leaving the job after nearly a decade in power amid the steady fading of his once starry global profile.
Mr. Trudeau leaves a treacherous legacy to any successor: The party is in tatters, with the opposition Conservatives leading the Liberals by more than 25 percentage points in recent opinion polls as voters have grown disenchanted with the country’s direction.
Mr. Carney, who served as an informal economic adviser to Mr. Trudeau during the pandemic, is seeking to portray himself as an outsider and distance himself from Mr. Trudeau’s recent policy struggles, including soaring housing costs, an overstretched health care system and high prices for everyday goods.
Mr. Carney is likely to brandish his command of economics as a heavyweight on the global stage — he led the central banks in Canada and England — at a time when President-elect Donald J. Trump has threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian goods exported to the United States.
Such an across-the-board move would ravage Canada’s economy, though it would also hurt the United States. (Mr. Trump has also threatened tariffs against Mexico).
But it remains to be seen if Mr. Carney can convince voters that he did not play a role in Mr. Trudeau’s stewardship of the country. Even before he officially announced his candidacy, Conservatives had been quick to point out Mr. Carney’s ties to Mr. Trudeau.
Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative Party leader, has called him “the ultimate liberal insider” and “Just like Justin,” sharing a photo on X of Mr. Carney and Mr. Trudeau seated close together and smiling, and adding a comment: “The bond between these two men is almost touching.”
Candidates to lead the Liberal Party will campaign to woo party members before they vote in March. Once a new leader takes charge, Mr. Trudeau will officially step down and the new party leader will also become prime minister. A general election is then expected to take place, probably in spring.
Mr. Carney, who has never run for elected office, will need to overcome a perception among Canadians that he is a stuffy bureaucrat and an out-of-touch member of the global elite. He was born in the Northwest Territories, but raised in Edmonton.
He took a stab at overhauling his image this week by engaging in a coy but humorous interview with Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show,” bantering with the late-night host for about 20 minutes.
At the heart of their chat was a running joke about the relationship between Canada and the United States — Mr. Trump has said that he wants to essentially annex Canada and make it another state, outraging many Canadians.
“We’re not moving in with you” Mr. Carney said. “We can be friends,” he added. “Friends with benefits.”
Mr. Stewart later responded: “I feel like you’re breaking up with me the entire interview.”
Mr. Carney, seeming more relaxed as the interview proceeded, followed up: “We’re resetting the relationship and we’re going to be stronger.”
He also used Mr. Stewart’s show as a platform to try to telegraph that he was never officially part of the embattled government of Mr. Trudeau.
“I am an outsider,” Mr. Carney said.
On Thursday, Mr. Carney formally made his pitch to Liberal voters about how he would steer Canada through what will most likely be turbulent relations with the United States and various domestic challenges.
Mr. Carney served as the governor of the Bank of Canada between 2008 and 2013, and then led the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020. At the Bank of England, he was known to give speeches that sometimes veered into more political subjects, especially around the dangers climate change posed to global markets.
He has since held positions as a special envoy on climate action and finance with the United Nations; as chair of Bloomberg’s board of directors; and as chair of Brookfield Asset Management, a global investment firm which until recently had headquarters in Toronto.
One potential challenger Mr. Carney may face for Liberal Party leadership is Chrystia Freeland, who abruptly resigned as deputy prime minister last month and criticized Mr. Trudeau’s management of the country.
Mr. Trudeau’s government had pursued Mr. Carney to replace Ms. Freeland in her role but he declined.
Ms. Freeland shares close ties and a similar educational background as Mr. Carney: both are graduates of Harvard University and the University of Oxford. They are also friends — Mr. Carney is the godfather of one of Ms. Freeland’s children.
Of the two, Mr. Carney is far less familiar to Canadians. In a recent opinion poll, 24 percent of Canadians recognized Mr. Carney in a photo while 51 percent recognized Ms. Freeland.
The Liberal Party’s effort to replace its leader will be closely watched. It recently updated its voter eligibility to include only Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are at least 14 years old. Registration was previously open to anyone living in Canada, regardless of citizenship status, raising concerns that the vote could be vulnerable to foreign interference.
A security task force made up of members from Canada’s federal police, global affairs ministry and spy agencies will monitor the leadership race to ensure its legitimacy, Mr. Trudeau’s office has said.
Candidates must raise 350,000 Canadian dollars, or about $245,000, to join the race.