Carney to be sworn in as Canada’s Prime Minister on Saturday

Mark Carney will become Canada’s 24th Prime Minister, replacing Justin Trudeau and is expected to call an election soon after taking power.

Mark Carney will be sworn in as Canada’s Prime Minister on Saturday AEDT.

Mark Carney will be sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister on Friday (Saturday AEDT), the Governor-General’s office has confirmed.

The Governor-General, the King of England’s representative in the country, said the ceremony would also involve the swearing-in of a new cabinet.

Carney, the former chief central banker in Canada and the UK, handily won the leadership of the governing Liberal Party this past weekend. He will replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said in early January he was leaving the post after nearly a decade, amid poor polling results.

Carney promised a quick and seamless transition, and so far this week has met with Trudeau, Canada’s top soldier, the head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Political analysts and Liberal Party members expect Carney to call a national election shortly after taking power, to take advantage of polling momentum that suggests the governing Liberals and the Conservative Party are in a statistical tie.

At the time of Trudeau’s resignation, the Conservative Party, led by populist Pierre Poilievre, held a 20-point-plus lead over the Liberals.

Carney’s leadership campaign has largely repudiated Trudeau’s economic agenda, arguing that the prime minister and his key aides let their focus wander from fuelling long-term growth and encouraging investment. In his victory speech, Carney said he would repeal some of the more unpopular tax measures that the Trudeau government introduced.

He has vowed to cut taxes for the middle class and limit government spending and the size of the federal bureaucracy, both of which climbed sharply under Trudeau’s watch.