Mark Carney launched the B.C. leg of his campaign to become the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, and ultimately the prime minister of Canada, in Richmond Thursday night.
A 100-plus crowd of Liberal supporters gathered at the Sandman Hotel to hear him speak and glad-hand with him. Carney, however, didn’t take any questions from the media.
The event was organized by Steveston-Richmond East member of Parliament Parm Bains who is supporting Carney’s leadership bid.
Bains said he’s supporting Carney to usher Canada through trade negotiations with the U.S., to make it attractive to invest in Canada and give “working Canadians the break they deserve.”
“Mark Carney has the most experience to do all of this for our country,” Bains added.
Carney’s biggest rival in the leadership campaign is Chrystia Freeland, who served as Canada’s foreign affairs minister when NAFTA was renegotiated during Trump’s first presidency.
She hasn’t formally launched her leadership bid yet.
Government house leader Karina Gould is also expected to run.
Carney announced his leadership bid on Thursday morning in Edmonton before arriving in B.C. later the same day and to the rally in Richmond, his first pit stop.
Carney told the Richmond crowd one of the first questions he was asked at a media scrum was why he was running.
“It’s the dumbest question: ‘why are we doing this?’ We’re doing this because we love our country,” Carney said. “We’re doing this because Canada has given us so much and we have a responsibility, and I feel this deeply, to give back to Canada so that the next generation benefits.”
Furthermore, Carney said he’s running due to the “serious threats from the 47th president of the United States” that Canada is facing.
President-elect Donald Trump has threatened 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods and has joked about making Canada the 51st state.
Carney also alluded to “tough economic times,” saying there are big changes coming to the economy due to things such as artificial intelligence and an “energy revolution” within the context of a divided world.
“That’s why I’m here,” Carney said. “I was about to say I’m not a politician, but I guess I am a politician, so political advice welcome.”
“But I’m not a usual politician, because these are not usual times,” he added.
Carney said what he’s offering is in contrast to Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s “simple three-word slogans that… betray the essence of Canada.”
A poll from Research Co. in early January showed the Conservative Party of Canada ahead of the Liberals by 26 per cent.
The Liberal leadership race will conclude on March 9.
📣 Got an opinion on this story or any others in Richmond? Send us a letter or email your thoughts or story tips to [email protected].
📲 To stay updated on Richmond news, sign up for our daily headline newsletter.
💬 Words missing in article? Your adblocker might be preventing hyperlinked text from appearing.
