Mark Carney approaches Liberal MPs ahead of potential leadership run

Mark Carney, the former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor, is actively considering running in a potential Liberal party leadership race should Justin Trudeau resign, sources tell CTV News.

Carney’s potential leadership bid was first reported by the Toronto Star on Friday.

Calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign heated up following Chrystia Freeland’s stunning resignation from cabinet and have grown over the holidays, with most Liberal MPs now asking him to step aside. In response to a request from regional caucus chairs, CTV News has learned that a national caucus meeting is set for Wednesday where Trudeau will face his MPs for the first time since telling them he would reflect on his future over the winter holidays.

Since Boxing Day, sources say Carney has made and fielded dozens of calls to Liberal MPs and political organizers who view him as a potential replacement for Trudeau.

One source argues Carney’s economic credentials are seen as beneficial in potential tariff negotiations with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump and in improving the economic security of Canadians, many of whom have responded to a Conservative message focused on a lack of affordability.

Carney linked to Liberal party, Trudeau government for months

Speculation over Carney’s leadership aspirations and attempts by the Trudeau government to recruit him have been ongoing for months.

Last summer, Trudeau confirmed to reporters that he had been talking to Carney about joining federal politics and later in September, he appointed the former central banker to be a special economic advisor to the Liberal party.

Later in December, just days prior to delivering the fall economic statement as finance minister and her sudden resignation, Trudeau told Freeland over a Friday morning Zoom call that she was losing the finance portfolio. Instead, sources tell CTV News that Trudeau wanted her to take on a new position as the government’s point person on Canada-U.S. relations, while retaining her title as deputy prime minister. A separate Liberal source says Trudeau told Freeland that he would be replacing her with Carney.

The Conservatives have also targeted Carney for months, labelling him as “Carbon Tax Carney” in an attempt to connect him to the Liberals’ signature climate policy.

Conservatives maintain more than 20-point lead over Liberals

While calls from inside the Liberal party for Trudeau’s resignation have been mounting, support for Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives is reaching new heights; up 26 points on the Liberals.

According to Nanos Research’s latest weekly ballot tracking, the federal Conservatives currently hold 47 per cent of support, over the Liberals’ 21 per cent.

Questions over Trudeau’s future persist as opposition parties’ push for an early election.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for a non-confidence vote in the Trudeau government as soon as Parliament resumes, while NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a letter last month that the Liberals “don’t deserve another chance” and that his party will “put forward a clear motion of non-confidence in the next sitting of the House of Commons.”