Canada’s next prime minister has managed the financial crisis, Brexit and now Trump’s trade war

TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s next prime minister has already helped run two Group of Seven economies in crisis and now will try to steer Canada through a looming trade war brought by U.S. President Donald Trump, a threat of annexation and an expected federal election.

Former central banker Mark Carney will become prime minister after the governing Liberal Party elected him its leader Sunday in a landside vote with 85.9% support.

Carney, 59, replaces Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January but remains prime minister until his successor is sworn in in the coming days. Carney is widely expected to trigger an election the coming days or weeks amid Trump’s sweeping tariff threats.

Carney said Canada will keep its initial retaliatory tariffs in place until “the Americans show us respect.”

Carney navigated crises when he was the head of the Bank of Canada from 2008, and then in 2013 when he became the first noncitizen to run the Bank of England since it was founded in 1694. His appointment won bipartisan praise in the U.K. after Canada recovered from the 2008 financial crisis faster than many other countries. He helped managed the worst impacts of Brexit in the U.K.

The opposition Conservatives hoped to make the election about Trudeau, whose popularity declined as food and housing prices rose and immigration surged.

Trump’s trade war and his talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state have infuriated Canadians, who are booing the American anthem at NHL and NBA games. Some are canceling trips south of the border, and many are avoiding buying American goods when they can.

The surge in Canadian nationalism has bolstered the Liberal Party’s chances in a parliamentary election expected within days or weeks, and Liberal showings have been improving in opinion polls.

“The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country. Think about it. If they succeed they would destroy our way of life,” Carney said. “In America health care is big business. In Canada it is a right.”

Carney said America is “a melting pot. Canada is mosaic,” he said. “America is not Canada. And Canada will never, ever will be a part of America in any way, shape or form.”