Mark Carney says he's begun the process of renouncing Irish, U.K. citizenship

Liberal leadership hopeful Mark Carney says he's written to the British and Irish governments to begin the process of renouncing his citizenship in both countries, leaving him solely with Canadian citizenship if the process is completed.

At a leadership event in Oakville, Ont., on Friday night, Carney told reporters his belief is that as prime minister, he should hold only one citizenship.

"I have already initiated the process to renounce my citizenships in both the United Kingdom and Ireland," he said.

Carney, who was born in Canada, has held Irish citizenship for decades. He became a British citizen in 2018, five years after he began serving as governor of the Bank of England.

The former Bank of Canada governor told reporters there are "several members of the House of Commons who have several passports," and there have been leaders of other federal political parties, like the Conservatives, who hold multiple citizenship.

"I'm not judging those other people," Carney said. "I'm saying as prime minister, I should only hold one citizenship."

During the 2019 federal election, the Globe and Mail revealed that then-Conservative leader Andrew Scheer's father is an American by birth and passed along his citizenship to Scheer and his siblings.

Scheer pledged on the campaign trail to renounce his U.S. citizenship, but he reversed course after the Conservatives lost the election. In 2020, Scheer told reporters that "given the fact that I won't be prime minister, I discontinued the process."

A CBC News investigation found that at least 56 parliamentarians from the 2015-19 Parliament — 44 MPs and 12 senators — had been born outside Canada. At least 22 of them had citizenship from other countries.

Transport Minister Anita Anand, who attended Carney's event in Oakville, her riding, told reporters that he encouraged her to throw her name back in the mix for re-election after she previously announced she would not run.

Anand also said Carney's leadership experience and past work leading countries through economic crises played a role in her decision to seek re-election.

"But most of all, I see Canada in an existential, economic crisis," she said, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs that are slated to go into effect on Tuesday. "I simply cannot leave at this time. One day I will return to academia, but now is not the time — when Canada needs everyone to step up."

With a possible federal election in the spring, the Liberals are in the process of selecting their next leader, following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcement in January that he'll resign.

The four remaining contenders going into the home stretch are Carney, former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, former House leader Karina Gould and former Liberal MP Frank Baylis.