MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
In a low-key ceremony today in Ottawa, Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada's new prime minister.
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PRIME MINISTER MARK CARNEY: I, Mark Carney, do solemnly and sincerely promise and swear that I will truly and faithfully...
KELLY: He is 59. He is replacing Justin Trudeau, who led Canada for almost a decade before stepping aside in January. And Carney is picking up the reins just as Canada is embroiled in a trade war with the U.S. NPR international affairs correspondent Jackie Northam reports.
JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE: Mark Carney becomes prime minister at a particularly low point in U.S.-Canada relations. President Trump launched what Carney calls unjustified punishing tariffs on Canada. Carney acknowledged this new reality during his acceptance speech as head of the governing Liberal Party last weekend.
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CARNEY: I know that these are dark days, dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust.
NORTHAM: Carney's immediate focus will be on U.S. tariffs and the broadening trade war. For that, he has a background in finance. He spent time on Wall Street, he was the governor of the Bank of England and Carney headed up the Bank of Canada.
CHARLES BIRD: Carney is very experienced in terms of dealing with a wide range of personalities and different economic spheres.
NORTHAM: Charles Bird is with Earnscliffe Strategies, a public affairs firm in Canada. He says, while Justin Trudeau and Trump did not get along, Carney could represent a fresh start for the relationship.
BIRD: I think he is much more inclined to speak the language of Donald Trump, which is much more about business and economics and dealmaking.
NORTHAM: Bird says Carney will need to be diplomatic and know when to be tough, such as at a press conference today. Carney called Trump's threat to make Canada the 51st state, quote, "crazy."
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CARNEY: We will never, ever, in any way, shape or form, be part of the United States. America is not Canada.
NORTHAM: Carney is expected to quickly announce general elections for late April or May. He's never held public office, and many Canadians never heard of him until a few weeks ago. But Dimitry Anastakis, a history professor at the University of Toronto, says Carney's main opposition, Pierre Poilievre, with the Conservative Party, is widely seen by many as a Canadian version of Trump, which has dented his poll numbers.
DIMITRY ANASTAKIS: And this has really helped the liberals. It's certainly helped Carney. And it's really had an impact - a unifying impact - in Canada.
NORTHAM: Anastakis says one thing of note is Carney's first trip as prime minister. He's going to Europe.
ANASTAKIS: From a historical perspective, it has been an expectation that the first stop would be Washington. Carney is really sending a message here in terms of that shift of where the allies and allyship lies.
NORTHAM: Carney says he has no plans for now to go to the U.S. to speak with Trump. The president has yet to congratulate Carney. Jackie Northam, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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