On Mark Carney's final day of a gruelling race to be elected PM of vast and sparsely populated Canada I was with him. It was his last push, not just to win, but also to get the majority he said he needed to stand up to the chaotic territorial and trade ambitions of his "neighbour to the south". For someone who had got to see Carney as a cerebral technocrat, a crisis-managing central bank governor a decade ago, the transformation into public orator was quite something. I recall endless interviews trying to get the then governor to say something newsworthy, or something that would make a good headline. While this was a very different Mark Carney, the lineage in crisis economics was also part of his sell. Carney told his audience in Edmonton, Alberta, sporting the local Oilers hockey shirt: "President Trump has ruptured the global economy... America's leadership of the global economy is over. It's still in play, but it is a tragedy, and our new reality… in this trade war, just like in hockey, we will win". His supporters shouted "Elbows Up" and put them up, a reference to a stand up and fight back posture in the occasionally rough game of ice hockey. "What we are seeing around the country is Canadians acting on behalf of other Canadians, standing up for each other, buying from each other, travelling here..." At his very final stop in the far West, in the isolation of Victoria, Vancouver Island, with only half an hour of campaigning allowed, Carney went "unplugged" among supporters. "As the assembled media will tell you, I campaigned in prose," Carney joked. "So I'm going to govern in econometrics," he said of the nerdy mathematical strain of economics. In normal circumstances, some of this might be interesting to the wider world. In current circumstances, the origins of his election win, his approach to policy making, and the nature of his mandate, could assume critical importance. When I caught up with him for the BBC exclusive interview, just as the polls were closing on Monday, he appeared confident but was taking nothing for granted. Fighting threats to sovereignty Mr Carney's central argument remained consistent. He said he was the leader to take on Donald Trump's "betrayal" and threats to Canada's economy and sovereignty. It was exemplified by his final large rally on the US-Canada border, with the Ambassador Bridge and a skyline of iconic Detroit motoring firms behind him. This bridge is the main artery of Canadian-US trade. A lot of effort went into this backdrop of the two-way trade of the most integrated economies in the world, now tariffed at unimaginable levels. An unsubtle message from the Liberal Party leader, about a changed continent. The election result was staggering. Entering 2025, the Liberal Party was as low as 16%, versus 45% for the opposition Conservatives, in opinion polls. Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives were not just heading for victory, but for a total landslide. But then following President Trump's imposition of national security tariffs on Canada, using the pretext of an alleged role in fentanyl traffic, and then his undiplomatic suggestion that Canada should join the USA, the polls tightened. Then after Mark Carney was elected Liberal leader, just eight weeks ago, the Liberals achieved a consistent poll lead, which they rode to victory last week. The election became a presidential-style verdict on who could cope with Trump. Poilievre was fundamentally weakened by previous overtures to the US president and his style of government. Carney incorporated voters on the left who were scared of a Conservative government amplified by Trump. And incredibly, in Quebec, the Liberals won back support from separatists, who were more concerned about Canada's independence from the US, than their own constitutional status within Canada. There is nothing more unifying than a credible external threat. Carney's strategy Carney gave some clues to his strategy during his interview with me. He talked of a "win win" partnership with the US, and reminded the president that Canada was the "biggest client" of 40 of the 50 US states, and a key energy and fertiliser supplier. He also told me he "potentially could supply them with critical minerals". This struck me as a negotiation tactic very targeted at what Trump has become fixated on elsewhere. Canada has ample resources of critical minerals, and would be a much more dependable supplier across the West than many other nations. Carney is implicitly suggesting, however, that his country has deep strategic choices to make here, on for example, developing them with Europe rather than the US. In any event, the PM will use the impetus of external threat to try to transform the Canadian economy. Even in the granting of an interview to BBC News, it was clear that he sees a critical need to diversify trade and strategic alliances. Defence partnerships are now on the cards. He seemed to acknowledge that a stalled Canada-UK trade deal could be expedited. On Friday he pulled off the historic announcement that King Charles would reopen the Canadian parliament in person at the end of the month. This has not happened since 1977. It is entirely in keeping with Canada's constitution, but it is also a stunning assertion of enduring independence from the White House. All roads now lead to the G7 Summit hosted by Carney in the middle of June in Alberta, bringing together the world's seven largest economies, which dominate global trade and the international financial system. Assuming that Trump comes, it will occur within days of the expiry of the pause in massive so-called "reciprocal tariffs" on most of the world. It is often forgotten that if Canada and Mexico free themselves from the fentanyl tariffs, they will then, according to White House advisers, find themselves subject to this system, with a minimum of 10% tariffs. All of this occurs within days of some growing frustration from America's traditional allies with the entire "trade deal" process. Japan is increasingly frustrated, with its finance minister now openly pointing to Japan's unbeaten holding of US government debt as a "card" in negotiations. The EU has not got very far. Even the UK has hinted that a deal with Europe may be a more effective way of boosting the economy. It comes as tariffs are starting to have a visible and tangible negative impact on US businesses and consumers. There is no great incentive to offer much up, while the US itself starts to feel the inevitable inflationary consequences of its actions. The flotilla of empty Chinese cargo ships and empty docks on the US West Coast will soon be seen in the economic data of an already shrinking US economy. As a veteran of economic crises arising from the uncertain experiments of governments, Carney might be uniquely placed on how these situations pan out. Many in the markets have been thoroughly unimpressed with the White House advisers sent out to reassure investors in recent weeks. But Carney too has his own challenges. He just missed out on a majority in parliament, but has chosen to try to project this as a virtue. He will reach across the aisle for a "Team Canada" approach to talks with the US. The Premier of the oil-rich Alberta province, who is a regular visitor to Mar-a-Lago, immediately announced moves to make separation referendums easier. This is a very complicated, domestic, continental and global environment economically and politically. Few would predict exactly where it goes. Carney may have a very large part in it, and not just for his own country.

As a clear Liberal win was emerging on election night, Conservative candidates and their supporters had one question: What the heck just happened? The party had lost a remarkable 27-point lead in opinion polls and failed to win an election for the fourth time in a row. And while it gained seats and earned almost 42% of the popular vote - its highest share since the party was founded in 2003 - its leader Poilievre was voted out of the seat he had held for the past 20 years. "Nobody's happy about that," Shakir Chambers, a Conservative strategist and vice-president of Ontario-based consultancy firm the Oyster Group, told the BBC. The party is now trying to work out how it will move forward. At the top of the agenda will be finding a way for the Conservatives to perform their duties as the Official Opposition - the second-place party in Canada's parliament whose job is to hold the sitting government to account - without their leader in the House. Ahead of a caucus meeting next Tuesday to discuss this, Poilievre announced on Friday his plan to run in an Alberta constituency special election to win back a seat. That special election will be triggered by the resignation of Conservative MP-elect Damien Kurek, who said he will voluntarily step down to let Poilievre back in after what he called "a remarkable national campaign". "An unstoppable movement has grown under his leadership, and I know we need Pierre fighting in the House of Commons," Kurek said in a statement. Unlike the US, federal politicians in Canada do not have to live in the city or province they run in. Poilievre grew up in Alberta, however, and will likely win handily as the constituency he is running in is a Conservative stronghold. A big question is whether Poilievre still has the backing of his own party to stay on as leader. Mr Chambers said the answer, so far, is a resounding yes. "Pierre has a lot of support in the caucus," he said. "I don't think there's anybody that wants him removed, or that has super high ambitions that wants to replace him as leader." A number of high-profile Conservatives have already rallied behind him. One of them is Andrew Scheer, a current MP and former leader of the party, who said Poilievre should stay on to "ensure we finish the job next time". Others are casting blame on where they went wrong. Jamil Jivani, who won his own constituency in a suburb of Toronto handily, felt that Ontario leader Doug Ford had betrayed the conservative movement and cost the party the election. The federal and provincial Conservative parties are legally different entities, though they belong to the same ideological tent, and Ford is leader of Ontario's Progressive Conservative Party. He frequently made headlines during the election campaign for his get-tough attitude with Donald Trump and the US president's trade war. "He couldn't stay out of our business," Jivani told a CBC reporter. Jivani, who in a past life attended Yale University with US Vice-President JD Vance, where the two became good friends, accused Ford of distracting from the federal Conservatives' campaign and of "positioning himself as some political genius that we need to be taking cues from". But Mr Chambers, the Conservative strategist, said that Poilievre will also need to confront where the party fell short. Poilievre, who is known for his combative political style, has struggled with being unlikeable among the general Canadian public. He has also failed to shore up the support of popular Conservative leaders in some provinces, like Ontario's Ford, who did not campaign for Poilievre despite his recent landslide victory in a provincial election earlier this year. Ford did, however, post a photo of him and Liberal leader Mark Carney having a coffee. "Last time I checked, Pierre Poilievre never came out in our election," Ford told reporters earlier this week. "Matter of fact, he or one of his lieutenants told every one of his members, 'don't you dare go out and help'". "Isn't that ironic?" Another Conservative premier, Tim Houston of Nova Scotia - who also did not campaign for Poilievre - said the federal party needs to do some "soul-searching" after its loss. "I think the Conservative Party of Canada was very good at pushing people away, not so good at pulling people in," Houston said. Not every premier stood on the sidelines. Poilievre was endorsed by Alberta's Danielle Smith and Saskatchewan's Scott Moe, both western Conservatives. Kory Teneycke, Ford's campaign manager, who publicly criticised Poilievre's campaign during the election, angering federal Conservatives, rejected the notion that Ford's failure to endorse Poilievre had cost him the election. He told the BBC that, to him, the bigger problem was Poilievre's failure to unite Conservative voters in Canada. "What constitutes a Conservative in different parts of the country can look quite different," he said, adding that Poilievre's populist rhetoric and aggressive style appealed to Conservatives in the west, but alienated those in the east. "There was a lot of Trump mimicry in terms of how they presented the campaign," Mr Teneycke said. "Donald Trump is public enemy number one to most in Canada, and I don't think it was coming across very well." He added he believes some of the "soul-searching" by Poilievre's Conservatives will need to include a plan of how to build a coalition of the right in a country "as big and diverse as Canada". Asked by reporters what it would take to heal the rift, Ford answered: "All they have to do is make a phone call."

In his first news conference since the federal election, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney laid out his priorities, including how he will approach upcoming talks with US President Donald Trump. His election campaign focused on standing up to Trump's tariff plans and threats to make Canada the 51st US state, which Carney has said will "never ever" happen. The Liberals won 168 seats out of 343 in Canada's House of Commons in Monday's election, enough to form a minority government but falling short of the 172 necessary for a majority. Carney's new cabinet will be sworn in the week of 12 May. Here are three things we learned from Carney's comments: 1. A strategic visit by the King Off the top, Carney announced an upcoming visit from King Charles III and Queen Camilla, who will visit Canada later this month. "This is a historic honour that matches the weight of our times," he told reporters gathered in Ottawa. Carney says he had invited the King to formally open Canada's 45th Parliament on 27 May. That request is certainly strategic. Carney said the King's visit "clearly underscores the sovereignty of our country" - a nod to Trump's 51st state remarks. Trump also has a well-known admiration for the Royal family. In February, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer used his trip to the White House to present Trump with a letter from King Charles offering to host a second state visit. The King is Canada's head of state and is represented in Canada by Governor General Mary Simon. After an election, the new parliamentary session is usually opened by the governor general, who reads the Speech from the Throne on behalf of the prime minister. The speech, read in Canada's Senate, sets out the government's agenda. While it is not unprecedented for the Throne speech to be read by the head of state, the last time this happened was in October 1977 when Queen Elizabeth II read the speech for the second time. The first was in 1957. 2. A Tuesday showdown with Trump Carney will visit the White House on Tuesday, barely a week after the federal election. His first official visit to the White House as prime minister comes amid frayed ties between the close allies in the wake of Trump's threatened and imposed tariffs, as well as the president's repeated comments about making Canada the 51st US state. Carney said there are two sets of issues to discuss: the immediate tariffs and the broader relationship. "My government will fight to get the best deal for Canada," Carney said, making it clear there would be no rush to secure an agreement. He added that the high-level dialogue indicates seriousness of the conversation between the leaders. He said he expects "difficult but constructive" discussions with the president. He also said he would strengthen relationship with "reliable" trading partners, pointing to recent conversations he has had with world leaders in Europe and Asia. 3. An olive branch offered to rivals Canada's election highlighted divisions within Canada, along regional, demographic and political lines. On Friday, Carney said Canada must be united in this "once in a lifetime crisis". "It's time to come together put on our Team Canada sweaters and win big," he said. He offered olive branches both to Canadians who did not vote for his Liberal Party and to his political rivals. While Canadians voted for a robust response to Trump, they also sent "a clear message that their cost of living must come down and their communities need to be safe", Carney said. "As prime minister I've heard these messages loud and clear and I will act on them with focus and determination." He said he is committed to working with others, including those across the aisle. Under leader Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative campaign focused heavily on cost of living issues and crime. The Conservatives came in second, forming Official Opposition but Poilievre lost his own Ottawa-area seat. Carney said he is open to calling a special election that would allow Poilievre to seek another seat if that is the path the Conservatives wanted to take. "No games," he said. On Friday, an MP-elect in Alberta announced he would resign his safe Conservative seat to allow Poilievre to run. Poilievre later confirmed he will run in that constituency "to hold the Liberal minority government to account".

The victory-party din for Mark Carney and his Liberal Party had only just faded when Donald Trump chimed in with a less than ringing endorsement of the winners. "It was the one that hated Trump, I think, the least that won," the US president said on Wednesday of Carney, whose party had just retained power by winning a near outright majority of the seats in Canada's general election. The Canadian prime minister may accept being the lesser of two evils in Trump's mind, however. The US president also said that he thinks the former Bank of England governor "couldn't have been nicer" in the first post-election phone conversation. The two men are expected to meet at the White House sometime within the next week. For Trump, politics is often personal. The president's affinity for Vladimir Putin colours US relations with Russia, for instance. His respect for Xi Jinping has kept US-China relations on a relatively even keel even as the two nations are engaging in an extended trade war. Canada, on the other hand, has spent an extended time on the other end of this equation. Trump's distaste for former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was palpable practically from the US president's first day in office in 2017. Their lengthy, aggressive handshake during their first in-person visit just a few weeks after Trump's inauguration foreshadowed what would be a long and trying relationship. It was punctuated by passive-aggressive jabs, snide comments and, upon Trump's return to the White House, the president's derisive reference to "Governor Trudeau" and repeated talk of turning Canada into America's "cherished 51st state". Trump's annexation talk continued even after Trudeau was replaced by Carney, but the temperature has seemed to drop somewhat, as the smooth international banker with a Harvard and Oxford pedigree replaced the younger, boyishly good looking Trudeau. Trump, while he likes to rail against global elites, is drawn to Ivy League backgrounds and accumulated wealth, which Carney has in spades. And Carney has another attribute Trump tends to value - he's now a winner. Even if he owes some of his victory to Trump's (negative) influence, the Liberal leader did engineer a remarkable reversal of fortune for his party when the outlook appeared gloomy just a few months before. Carney and Trump are still a study in contrasts, something that presents risk for the former as their first meeting looms. The Canadian is measured, controlled and organised. Trump is impulsive and unpredictable. Both can be impatient at times, with little tolerance for the trivialities of modern politics. There were reports that Trump brought up annexation during his first conversation with Carney after he became prime minister, but the Canadian leader kept that to himself and word only leaked weeks later - a characteristically cool response that may offer a hint of how he will handle Trump's bluster. Paul Samson, president of the Centre for International Governance Innovation who has held various senior positions in Canadian government over 30 years, has seen Carney in action first-hand. "Carney likes to get things done," Mr Samson said. He is also calm, easy going and could connect with Trump on a personal level. "But he certainly does not want to come across as subservient." If Carney heads into his first full term in office with a somewhat cleaner slate in dealing with the US president, it will still be a precarious situation. While Canada has won a reprieve from some of the most onerous tariffs Trump initially announced on his nation, the clock is ticking - and striking some kind of settlement with the Americans will be no easy task. "We will have a partnership on our terms," Carney told the BBC on Tuesday. "I would distinguish between what the president wants and what he expects." Carney went on to say that Trump's "territorial views" on his country are "never, ever going to happen". It was a familiar message, one he delivered repeatedly on the campaign trail and in his election night victory speech. "America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country," he said on Monday. "But these are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us." Carney's rejection of an American takeover of Canada may not be enough to satisfy the US president, however. And it may not be possible for Carney and the Canadians to determine exactly what it is that Trump expects, either. He has said Canada must do more to limit undocumented migration into the US, which is low, and cross-border fentanyl drug trafficking, which is minimal. He has also inflated the US-Canada trade deficit and said that the nation is "ripping off" America. Given the population disparity between the two nations and Canada's vast natural resources, a balanced trade ledger between the two could be an unreachable ask. Whatever Trump and the Americans ultimately want, the US, as Canada's largest export market, has considerable power over its northern neighbour should it wish to exercise it. But, as Carney noted in his talk with the BBC, Canada isn't powerless either. "We are the biggest client for more than 40 states," he said. "We supply them with vital energy, conventional energy and potentially could supply them with critical minerals." He also said Canada could look to "like-minded countries" for more reliable trading partners, such as the UK or the EU, cutting the US out of the equation. Doing so, however, would be abandoning a long and reliable partnership with the US, one that had been based on shared ideals as well as shared geography. Trump's first 100 days back in the White House has called all of that into question, however. It's a rift that seems unlikely to be fully mended, no matter how well Trump and Carney hit it off when they sit down in person to talk.

As Mark Carney settles into the role of Canada's prime minister, he will not only have to take on US President Donald Trump, but also wider divisions within his own country. Among those is a generational divide, with young voters who are concerned about housing unaffordability, crime and the cost of living coalescing around the Conservatives. It's a reversal from 2015, when youth voted in record numbers, helping sweep Carney's predecessor Justin Trudeau to power. But this election, "baby boomers" - those over the age of 60 - "were an essential component to the Liberal success", pollster David Coletto of Abacus Data told the BBC. Meanwhile, younger Canadians, particularly young men, rallied behind the Conservatives. One of them is Connor from Toronto. The 28-year-old told the BBC that he was drawn to the party because of its focus on housing and the cost of living. "We're getting stuck in a system right now that doesn't seem to be working," he said. "It worked for our parents, but not for us." He added that he has grown "tired of the same Liberal policies for the last 10 years". Another voter, AS, a 29-year-old woman from Montreal who like Connor did not want her full name used, said she has been disheartened by the lack of economic growth in Canada in recent years. "I make six figures and I don't see my dollar going nearly as far as it should be, and that is alarming to me," she told the BBC. Ahead of the election, support for the Conservatives outpaced the Liberals by 44% to 31.2% among 18 to 34 year olds, a Nanos poll on 25 April indicated. The issues that resonated with Canadians depended on age, too. Carney campaigned heavily on standing up to Trump, while affordability and a broken "Canadian promise" were central to Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre's message. Abacus Data polling indicated about 18% of 18 to 29 year olds were worried about Trump. That jumped to 45% for voters over 60, suggesting a diversion on key issues between generations. A big challenge for Carney and the Liberals will be how they can win back the confidence of those younger voters, Mr Coletto said, who "feel really let down and frustrated". In Monday's election, the Liberals managed to gain more than a dozen seats in a historic comeback election. But the rival Conservatives also made significant gains - enough to block the Liberals from forming a decisive majority government. The Liberals won 169 seats, three shy of a majority, and captured 43% of the popular vote. The Conservatives won 144 seats - 25 more than the previous 2021 election - and 41% of the popular vote. Smaller parties, namely the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP), suffered significant losses as voters migrated to the two larger parties. Carney's platform did feature proposals on how to tackle affordability, including a pledge to build 500,000 homes annually and a small income tax cut for some Canadians. Laura Stephenson, chair of the political science department at Western University, noted the two platforms were not too different on cost of living issues. "It is a question of differences in degree, rather than completely different approaches," Prof Stephenson said. In his victory speech, Carney preached a message of unity as he acknowledged the millions of Canadians who cast ballots for other parties. "My message to every Canadian is this: no matter where you live, no matter what language you speak, no matter how you voted, I will always do my best to represent everyone who calls Canada home," he said. Carney will also face a restive western Canada, where there is a festering sense of alienation from the power centre in Ottawa. Those tensions were on display quickly after the election. In a post congratulating Carney, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Poilievre's vision "inspired millions", while the Liberals had "demonized and demeaned" her oil-rich province. She called on Carney to "reset the relationship between Ottawa and Alberta with meaningful action rather than hollow rhetoric". Without a majority, Carney will also have to work with other party leaders to get legislation passed. The Liberals could try to convince members of the NDP - and even the Conservatives - to cross the aisle, which could turn their strong minority to a majority. Forming an effective government, as well binding regional and demographic fractures in Canada, is now one of the many items on Carney's to-do list.

US President Donald Trump has called Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to congratulate him on his victory in the country's general election, and the two have agreed to meet in the near future. The two countries were expected to enter talks about a new economic and security relationship after Monday's vote. Trump's trade tariffs and repeated comments undermining Canada's sovereignty overshadowed the race, which ended with Carney's Liberals projected to win a minority government, according to public broadcaster CBC. In their first call since the election, Trump congratulated Carney on his victory, according to the prime minister's office on Tuesday. The office also said the two leaders had "agreed on the importance of Canada and the United States working together – as independent, sovereign nations – for their mutual betterment". The fact that Carney did not win an outright majority will make his pressing tasks of negotiating with his US counterpart, and tackling a range of domestic issues, more of a challenge - as he will need to wrangle support from other political parties. The Liberals will need to rely on those parties' support to pass legislation through the House of Commons. They also face possible defeat in any vote of confidence in the chamber. The Liberals are most likely to find willing partners with the diminished left-wing New Democrats, who have in the past supported the Liberals, and the Bloc Québécois. The Liberals are projected to have won 169 seats, three short of the 172 needed for a majority in Canada's House of Commons. It still marks a historic turnaround for a party that had seemed on course for collapse just months ago. Carney, a former central banker for Canada and the UK, will continue as prime minister, having stepped into the role last month following the resignation of his unpopular predecessor, Justin Trudeau. One issue for which it might be easy for the Liberals to find support in the House is in passing legislation to help workers and industries affected by US tariffs - something all parties swung behind on the campaign trail. On Tuesday morning, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet suggested Carney could benefit from at least a period of stability in the House. Blanchet urged a "truce" among parties while Canada negotiated trade with the US, saying it was clear Canadians wanted political stability in unstable times. He said it was not time for other parties to "threaten to overthrow the government anytime soon" and did not see any scenario "other than collaboration for a period of slightly over a year". The leader of the sovereigntist party, which only runs candidates in Quebec, did urge Carney to avoid pressing the province on certain issues, noting that collaboration goes both ways. On Tuesday, the White House commented on Carney's win, with deputy press secretary Anna Kelly saying: "The election does not affect President Trump's plan to make Canada America's cherished 51st state." Carney told the BBC that a 51st state scenario was "never, ever going to happen". Meanwhile, new US ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, said in a video statement that he was "committed to making progress in this great relationship". Carney has also promised action on a range of domestic issues, including tackling the country's housing crisis and tax cuts for lower- and middle-income Canadians. The prime minister also needs to prepare for the G7 summit in June, which Canada is hosting in the province of Alberta. In Monday's election, both the Liberals and the Conservatives saw a significant rise in their share of the national vote compared with four years ago. The Conservative Party came in second, on track to win 144 seats, and will form the official opposition. Increased support for Canada's two largest parties came at the expense of smaller parties, particularly the NDP, whose share of the popular vote was down by around 12 percentage points. Voter turnout for the election was 67%. Both Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh lost their seats, with Singh announcing he would step down as leader of the left-wing party.

The former Bank of England boss, Mark Carney, has won Canada's election to become the country's next prime minister. He was sworn into the position last month after his predecessor resigned, but called for a snap election that saw Canadians head to the polls on Monday. Carney was the first non-British person to take on the top banking role in the central bank's more than 300-year history. He had previously steered his home country through the 2008 financial crash as the governor of the Bank of Canada. Unlike most PM-hopefuls, Carney had never held political office. Still, he handily won the Liberal Party contest to replace outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in early March, and has now been elected by the people. He had touted his experience handling global economic crises, hoping Canadians will see him as the leader mostly likely to stand up to US President Donald Trump who has launched a trade war on his northern neighbour. Early life and childhood Although Carney has travelled the globe, working in places like New York, London and Tokyo, he was born in the remote northern town of Fort Smith, in the Northwest Territories. With three out of four grandparents hailing from County Mayo in Ireland, Carney holds both Irish and Canadian citizenship. He got British citizenship in 2018, but recently said he intends to relinquish his British and Irish citizenship because he thinks the prime minister should only hold Canadian citizenship. The son of a high-school principal, he went to Harvard University on scholarship where he played the most Canadian of sports, ice hockey. In 1995, he earned his PhD in economics from Oxford University, where he wrote his thesis on whether domestic competition can make an economy more nationally competitive - a subject that is sure to come up as Canada works to make internal trade easier in the face of American tariffs. "Mark was an extraordinarily versatile student, rapidly mastering new approaches, perspectives and challenges," recalled his former doctoral supervisor Meg Meyer, in a press release sent by the university after Carney won the leadership race. "These skills will undoubtedly serve him well as he leads Canada during these turbulent times." Previous experience In 2003, he left the private sector to join the Bank of Canada as a deputy governor, then worked for the Department of Finance as senior associate deputy minister. In 2007, he was appointed governor of the Bank of Canada, shortly before global markets crashed, sending the country into a deep recession. His leadership at the central bank is widely praised for helping the country avoid the worst of the crisis. Although central bankers are notoriously circumspect, he was open about his intentions to keep interest rates low for at least a year, after dramatically cutting them. That move would be credited for helping businesses keep investing even when the markets sank. He would go on to take a similar approach when he was lured back to London - this time as the governor of the Bank of England. He is credited with modernising the Bank, appearing much more frequently in the media than his predecessor. In 2015, the Bank reduced the number of interest rate meetings from 12 to eight a year, and started publishing minutes alongside the announcement of interest rate decisions. Interest rates were anchored at historic lows when he took over, but he introduced a policy of "forward guidance", where the Bank would try to further support the economy and encourage lending by pledging not to raise rates until unemployment fell below 7%. Confusion about this policy saw an MP compare him to an "unreliable boyfriend", a moniker that stuck around long after the original controversy died down. Unlike previous governors who generally kept a low profile, he made controversial interventions ahead of two big constitutional referendums. In 2014 he warned that an independent Scotland might have to surrender powers to the UK if it wanted to continue using the pound. Before the Brexit referendum, he warned that a vote to leave the EU could spark a recession. In the wake of the leave vote, after David Cameron resigned as prime minister and the pound plunged, he addressed the nation in a bid to reassure the country that the financial system would operate as normal. He described it as his "toughest day" on the job, but said the contingency plans the Bank put in place worked effectively. The Bank later cut interest rates from 0.5% to 0.25% - and restarted its quantitative easing programme to support the economy. His final week in March 2020 saw the start of the acutest phase of the Covid pandemic - the Bank cut rates by 0.5% to support the economy, and Carney told the country that the economic shock "should be temporary". Crossing paths with Trump Carney's time at the Bank gave him plenty of experience dealing with Donald Trump - who has not only imposed steep tariffs on Canada since returning to office in January, but has also suggested that America should annex its less powerful neighbour. From 2011-18, Carney was chair of the Financial Stability Board, which co-ordinated the work of regulatory authorities around the world, giving him a key role in the global response to the policies of the first Trump presidency. He was a regular at the G20 meetings, with a pitch-side view of Trump on the global stage. Although he kept his thoughts on the US president to himself at the time, he has been much more frank in recent days. After Trump made repeated comments about making Canada the 51st state, he was less diplomatic, comparing him to the villain in the Harry Potter books. "When you think about what's at stake in these ridiculous, insulting comments of the president, of what we could be, I view this as the sort of Voldemort of comments," Carney said. "Like I will not even repeat it, but you know what I'm talking about." He seems prepared to dig in his heels as the trade war continues, noting he would continue to impose counter-tariffs "until the Americans show us respect … and [make] credible and reliable commitments to free and fair trade". Political ambitions The Liberals have reportedly courted him for a decade, but until recently the 60-year-old had brushed off the idea. "Why don't I become a circus clown?" he told a reporter in 2012. Things changed, however, when Trudeau stepped down in January after his finance minister, Chrystia Freeland quit his cabinet, sparking a party squabble that, coupled with Trudeau's tanking poll numbers, led the prime minister to announce his resignation. Reports suggested Trudeau had intended to replace Freeland with Carney in the finance post. Freeland - a personal friend - even ran against him in the race to replace Trudeau. But Carney won by a landslide, pitching himself as the best equipped to take on Trump, who has imposed steep tariffs on Canadians goods. "I know how to manage crises," Carney said during a leadership debate late last month. "In a situation like this, you need experience in terms of crisis management, you need negotiating skills." Still, his time in the world of finance has opened him up to criticism from political rivals in Canada. The Conservatives have accused Carney of lying about his role in moving investment firm Brookfield Asset Management's head office from Toronto to New York, though Carney says the recent formal decision to relocate the firm was made after he quit the board. They have also pushed him to disclose his financial assets over conflict-of-interest concerns. Carney has placed his assets in a blind trust and has said he is in full compliance with existing conflict-of-interest rules, but has been pressed for more transparency. Where does Carney stand on issues? In addition to Carney's get-tough-on-Trump approach, he has proposed a number of policies to address at-home issues as well. He is known as an advocate for environmental sustainability. In 2019 he became a UN special envoy for climate change, and in 2021 launched the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, a grouping of banks and financial institutions working to combat climate change. One of the most contentious parts of Trudeau's platform has been the carbon tax, which saw Canadians pay a tax on carbon emissions, and receive a rebate. Conservatives repeatedly promised to end the tax, which they say does little for the environment. Shortly after being sworn in, Carney signed an order-in-council scrapping the tax from 1 April, though he has in the past advocated for similar policies. "This will make a difference to hard-pressed Canadians," he said. On the campaign trail, he has also advocated for making Canada a "clean and conventional" energy superpower, and to speed up major project approvals. Canada's top candidates talk up fossil fuels as climate slips down agenda Carney has called himself a "pragmatist" when questioned about potential conflicts between his energy policies and his climate values. On immigration, Carney has advocated for a cap on current immigration targets, in order to ensure that Canada's housing and healthcare systems are not stressed. The issue had come to the fore last year, with Trudeau lowering targets amid critics saying the country's immigration system was overrun. His biggest mission, he had said, will be to keep Canada's economy growing, despite slowed trade with the US.

Victims of the car attack that left 11 people dead at a festival in Vancouver, Canada, on Saturday have not yet been named by police, but they are now being identified online by family and colleagues. The victims, nine females and two males, range in age from a five-year-old girl to a 65-year-old man. More than two dozen other people were injured, according to police. Up to 100,000 revellers were celebrating the Lapu-Lapu festival in Canada's largest west coast city when the attack occurred. A 30-year-old man has been arrested and is facing multiple murder charges. Officials have not yet released a motive, but say the case is not being treated as terrorism. Seven victims in hospital were in a critical condition, according to Vancouver police spokesman Sgt Steve Addison. Three others were in a serious condition. Here's what we know about some of those who have been identified in social media posts and on fundraising pages by family and colleagues. The Le family - ages 5, 30 and 47 Katie Le, five, was the youngest person to die in the attack. She was killed along with her father, Richard Le, 47, and mother Linh Hoang, 30. Her 16-year-old brother, who stayed home from the festival to do homework, is the family's sole survivor, a relative wrote on a GoFundMe page. "This event was meant to be a joyful community gathering, celebrating unity and the strength of a connected people," wrote Richard Le's brother, Toan Le. Katie was about to graduate from kindergarten, and was "vibrant, joyful, and full of life". Toan Le remembered his brother Richard Le as "a dedicated father, badminton and tennis coach, and real estate professional". "He devoted his life to teaching young people the values of sportsmanship and team spirit. He served his community and clients with pride and always went out of his way to help others," he wrote. Linh Hoang "was known for her kindness and gentle spirit", and had recently been planning a trip to visit family in Vietnam. Toan Le told CTV News the 16-year-old survivor was still in shock. "He's still trying to absorb the situation, and I don't think he is fully comprehending what has happened," he said, adding that the boy was in the care of family. Kira Salim Kira Salim, a teacher and counsellor at Fraser River Middle School and New Westminster Secondary School, was among those killed. "Kira was a valued member of our community whose wisdom and care for our middle and secondary school students had a powerful impact," school officials Maya Russell and Mark Davidson wrote in a statement. "The loss of our friend and colleague has left us all shocked and heartbroken," they added. "We recognize Kira's passing may be difficult to process," the school district's statement said. "We are a small but mighty community. This is one of the qualities of New Westminster that Kira loved the most," they wrote. Salim is described in a LinkedIn page as a mental health provider and educator. "My personal mission is facilitating and guiding youth and marginalized communities to thrive in their lives while creating a diverse and equitable environment that uplifts different strengths and personalities while providing customized and innovative solutions to support patients," Salim wrote. Salim wrote in a post that it "is a dream come true" after taking a job at Frazer River Middle School nine months ago. New West Pride, an LGBT advocacy group, memorialised Salim with a photo. "They were an epic drag king, a wonderful exuberant contributer [sic] to our local community, volunteer, activist, local educator, mental health worker," the group wrote. "Kira will be deeply missed."

Nunavut is Canada's largest federal district. The entire territory - all 1.8 million sq km (695,000 sq miles) and its 40,000 people - will be represented by one person in parliament. "Nunavut is at least three times the size of France. If it was its own country, it would be the 13th largest behind Greenland," Kathy Kettler, the campaign manager for local Liberal candidate Kilikvak Kabloona, told the BBC. Located in the Arctic, where average temperatures in the capital city Iqaluit are below freezing for eight months of the year, it is so vast and inaccessible that the only way to travel between its 25 communities is by air. "Yesterday, in 24 hours, we travelled 1,700 km (1,050 miles) by air and campaigned in Pangnirtung, Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, and Arviat," said Ms Kettler. "There are not very many people who understand the reality of the north," Ms Kettler said, describing the challenges of running a campaign where so much is different from southern Canada. She recalled knocking on doors earlier this month as she campaigned for her candidate in -24C (-11F) temperatures. She said it's rare in northern communities for people to knock before entering someone's home. Instead, the tight-knit culture permits visitors to simply "walk in and say hello" - almost unthinkable in other parts of the country. As an Inuk from northern Quebec, she said it "feels weird" even for her to knock and wait for a response. In Nunavut, one of Canada's three northern territories, the majority-Inuit population speak Inuktitut. Ms Kettler said one of the biggest expenses was translating campaign signs and hiring an interpreter for Kabloona, the candidate. Election issues for northerners too are unique. "The national campaign is really focused on Arctic security and sovereignty, whereas our campaign here is focused on food security and people being able to survive," Ms Kettler said. Food can be prohibitively expensive and there are infrastructure challenges to accessing clean water for a number of Indigenous and northern communities. She was boiling water to drink while campaigning in Arviat, she said, and described being unable to rely on calling voters as she canvasses because a phone plan is the first thing they sacrifice to afford food. The seat is currently held by the New Democratic Party (NDP), with incumbent Lori Idlout running for re-election. James Arreak is the Conservative candidate. Jean-Claude Nguyen, the returning officer in Nunavut, is responsible for conducting the election in the district. He described how difficult it is to ensure ballots and voter lists get to every community - including to workers at remote gold mines. "[Elections Canada] sent a team from our Ottawa headquarters via Edmonton and Yellowknife to the mine where they work, gave them sufficient time to vote, and then they brought the ballots back," he said. Mr Nguyen also spoke about security considerations. Once polls close, the ballots are counted at the polling station and then stored safely either with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), or a local hamlet - a small community that provides municipal services to its residents. The ballot boxes are then flown to Iqaluit, and then to Ottawa. Mr Nguyen recalled how in the 2019 election, a ballot box arrived with a big hole. "When we asked the charter flight company what happened, they said it was eaten by a raven," he said laughing. "That's part of the reality here in the territories, you have wild animals eating the ballot boxes." No ballots were damaged by the bird. Beyond all the challenges, Kathy Kettler said she is most drawn to the spirit of the people. "The generosity, love, and care that people have for each other in every community shines through," she said. "That's what keeps me going, and it's what makes campaigning across Nunavut so meaningful."

At 20 years old, Pierre Poilievre already had a roadmap for Canada. Canada's Conservative Party leader - now 45 - laid out a low-tax, small government vision for the country in an essay contest on what he would do as prime minister. "A dollar left in the hands of consumers and investors is more productive than a dollar spent by a politician," he stated. Poilievre is now one step closer to making his vision a reality, and even gave a nod to the essay in a recent interview with conservative psychologist and commentator Jordan Peterson. For Canadians frustrated with a sluggish economy and a housing and affordability crisis, Poilievre has promised a return to "common sense politics", and offered an alternative to what he labelled as former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's "authoritarian socialism". He now finds himself facing a different political foe, new Liberal leader and Prime Minister Mark Carney. While Poilievre's Conservatives have enjoyed a large lead over the struggling Trudeau Liberals in national surveys for months, support for the Liberals has shot up following Trudeau's resignation. Now the outcome of the general election is a significantly tighter race. Still, Poilievre's message is resonating in parts of Canadian society, as his campaign continues to draw large crowds across the country. Critics have painted him as a sort of Donald Trump "light" - a parallel that has become a liability amid Trump's trade war and musings about a "51st state". Poilievre has sought to distance himself from the US president, positioning himself as a "tough guy" who can take on Trump, and has pointed to his modest upbringing as one of the differences. A Calgarian with his eyes set on Ottawa Poilievre was born in Canada's western province of Alberta to a 16-year-old mother who put him up for adoption. He was taken in by two school teachers, who raised him in suburban Calgary. "I have always believed that it is voluntary generosity among family and community that are the greatest social safety net that we can ever have," he told Maclean's Magazine in 2022, reflecting on his early life. "That's kind of my starting point." As a teenager, Poilievre showed an early interest in politics, and canvassed for local conservatives. Poilievre was studying international relations at the University of Calgary when he met Stockwell Day, who served as a cabinet minister under former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. At the time, Day was seeking the leadership of the Canadian Alliance - a right-wing party with Alberta roots that became part of the modern-day Conservatives in a 2003 merger - and he tapped Poilievre to help with campus outreach. "He impressed me from the start," Day told the BBC in an interview. "He seemed to be a level-headed guy, but full of energy and able to catch people's attention." Day's leadership bid was successful, and he set out for Ottawa with Poilievre as his assistant. Some time after, Poilievre walked into his office on a cold winter night to ask his opinion about potentially running for office. Poilievre went on to win a seat in Ottawa in 2004 at the age of 25, making him one of the youngest elected Conservatives at the time. He has held that seat since. From "Skippy" to party leader In Ottawa, Poilievre was given the nickname Skippy by peers and foes alike due to to his youthful enthusiasm and sharp tongue. He built a reputation for being "highly combative and partisan", said Randy Besco, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto. Behind the closed doors of Conservative caucus meetings, Poilievre showed his diplomatic side, Day said. "Pierre was always good at saying, 'Okay, you know what? I hadn't thought of that,' or he would listen and say: 'Have you thought of this?'" said Day. Still, confrontational politics became a cornerstone of Poilievre's public persona. After becoming Conservative leader in 2022, he would target Trudeau with biting remarks as a way to connect with disaffected voters. It has landed him in trouble at times. In April, he was expelled from the House of Commons for calling the former prime minister a "wacko". Poilievre told the Montreal Gazette in June that he is a fan of "straight talk". "I think when politesse is in conflict with the truth, I choose the truth," he said. "I think we've been too polite for too long with our political class." His combative style has also been divisive, and he has been criticised for oversimplifying complex issues for political gain. While Canadians have been open to the opposition leader's message as a change from Trudeau's brand of progressive politics, just under half of them hold an unfavourable opinion of him, according to a recent poll. Poilievre has also had to shift his sights since Trudeau's resignation to get ahead of the inevitable match-up between him and Carney. Poilievre on populism, immigration and Trump The Conservative leader has been described as a "soft" populist for his direct appeals to everyday Canadians and criticism of establishment elites, including corporate Canada. It has been pointed out as a weakness by his critics, as the bulk of Canadians have become angry and frustrated with another well-known, nearby populist - Donald Trump. Canadians priorities have shifted since the Trump administration launched a trade war against Canada, with the relationship between the two countries now the top of mind for voters. It has forced Poilievre, who had not stepped much into foreign policy prior, to pivot. He has since pushed back at Trump's comments suggesting Canada become a 51st US state, vowing to "put Canada first". "While Canadians are slow to anger and quick to forgive, once provoked, we fight back. And we will fight back," Poilievre has said in an address directed at Trump. Trump has disparaged the Conservative leader in response, telling the UK magazine The Spectator that he is not "MAGA enough." In an interview with Fox News, Trump said that Poilievre is "stupidly no friend of mine". On domestic issues, Poilievre has pledged to deliver "the biggest crackdown on crime in Canadian history", promising to keep repeat offenders behind bars. He also came out in support of those who protested vaccine mandates during the 2021 "Freedom Convoy" demonstrations that gridlocked Ottawa for weeks. On social matters, he has rarely weighed in - something Prof Besco said is typical of senior Conservatives, who see these topics as "a losing issue". While Poilievre voted against legalising gay marriage in the early 2000s, he has recently said it will remain legal "full stop" if he is elected. The Conservatives also do not support legislation to regulate abortion, though they allow MPs to vote freely on the issue. "There will be no laws or other restrictions imposed on a woman's right to decide to do with her body as she wishes," Poilievre said in April. "And that is something that I am guaranteeing to you and to all Canadians." Amid a public debate in Canada in recent months on immigration, the Conservative party has said it would tie levels of newcomers to the number of new homes built, and focus on bringing in skilled workers. Poilievre's wife, Anaida, arrived in Canada as a child refugee from Caracas, Venezuela. The Conservative leader has pushed for the integration of newcomers, saying Canada does not need to be a "hyphenated society". One of his major promises - to cut the industrial carbon pricing programme, arguing it is a financial burden for families - has raised questions over how his government would tackle pressing issues like climate change. Liberal leader Carney scrapped the unpopular consumer carbon tax this month, shortly after being sworn in. Above all, Poilievre has said that he wants to do away with "grandiosity" and "utopian wokesim" that he believes has defined the Trudeau era, in favour of the "the things that are grand and great about the common people". "I've been saying precisely the same thing this entire time," he told Mr Peterson.