Mark Carney was officially sworn in as Canada’s 24th Prime Minister on Friday, taking up the job at the helm of Canada during a heated trade row with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Carney, 59, replaces Justin Trudeau who quit in January after almost a decade in office. Given a federal election is due to be held within weeks, Carney has an office to put up for sale almost at once, with immediate challenges that include Trump’s protectionist trade policies and unprecedented talk of annexing Canada as the 51st U.S. state,.
In his first words as PM, Carney showed a willingness to deal but insisted on “respect for Canadian sovereignty” & a comprehensive trade approach. This move is in response to Canada imposing $29 billion worth of tariffs on U.S. goods on March 30 after the Trump administration went ahead with a 25% tax on Canadian steel and aluminum on March 1, and hours away from imposing more tariffs on April 2. 
The escalating trade war has triggered a wave of nationalism all across Canada. American anthems are being booed at NHL and NBA matches and consumers are burning U.S. goods. This perfume swells of patriotic has boosted the rank of Liberal Party, rising in prefectoral polls.
Carney, who previously headed Bank of Canada and Bank of England, is regarded as highly able at crisis cont,rol. Former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was sanguine about Carney’s leadership but cautioned there is “no magic solution” to the uncertainty of anything and everyone including Mr. Trump.
As the country comes to a boil, everyone is watching Carney as he steers through one of the most perilous months ever in Canada-U.S. relations.
