Mark Carney steps into an unprecedented moment

Into this unprecedented moment, enter Mark Carney. 

In the more gossipy corners of Ottawa, this has been a long time coming. At least as far back as the summer of 2012, an eager group of Liberals tried and failed to woo him. That same year, according to Carney, Stephen Harper asked him if he wanted to be finance minister. Justin Trudeau seemingly made multiple attempts to bring Carney in.

"Certain people want things to happen … the political world, it seems to me, is a world for optimists," Carney told the Globe and Mail in 2012. "I'm in a world that's a world for realists."

Carney now has two feet planted firmly in the political world, but he and everyone else is faced with a reality that would have been scarcely imaginable in 2012 — an American president who poses a real and multi-faceted threat to Canada.

"I'm not the usual suspect when it comes to politics but this is no time for politics as usual," Carney said at his campaign launch, just seven short weeks ago, neatly trying to turn his lack of retail polish into a virtue. After the highly emotive reign of Justin Trudeau, it is indeed a bit jarring to hear the Liberal Party led by a central banker.

A 59-year-old father of four, Carney has a long list of formers: governor of the Bank of Canada, governor of the Bank of England, deputy minister in the Department of Finance, UN special envoy for climate action, chairman of Brookfield Asset Management, banker with Goldman Sachs. 

But he is the 14th leader of the Liberal Party and he will soon become the 24th prime minister of Canada. The question now is how long he will occupy that office — whether he is the man for this moment or a man who will only momentarily be prime minister. 

Though this moment is incomparable, there are at least two cautionary tales that could be said to hang over Carney's ascent: John Turner and Michael Ignatieff.

The last time the Liberal Party of Canada replaced a member of the Trudeau family, the unlucky winner was Turner. And the last time Liberals gravitated toward a figure who had built an international reputation outside politics, they (eventually) went with Ignatieff. That ended badly too, except insofar as it indirectly led the Liberals back to a Trudeau.

Ignatieff has long been the easiest point of comparison to Carney. The son of a Canadian diplomat, Ignatieff was a celebrated intellectual and author who was smart and worldly and decent and interesting. But he failed to master politics and couldn't provide the leadership, organization or vision the Liberals desperately needed when he took the helm in 2008. The subsequent election in 2011 was the worst result in the party's fabled history, surpassing the previous low established by Turner in 1984. 

Carney's political abilities — how he handles the constant poking, prodding and parsing — are still being tested. But he has been involved with government at the highest levels and he would already seem to have a clearer idea than Ignatieff of what he wants to do in politics — namely, a focus on strengthening the Canadian economy. And he has now won an overwhelming victory in his first electoral contest, his share of the vote surpassing even the total won by Trudeau in 2013 against lesser competition. 

With Justin Trudeau's government worn down by the wages of time and the cost of inflation, the Liberals entered this leadership race in desperate need of something different. And among the leading contenders to replace Trudeau, Carney was in the best position to represent change — a word he used half a dozen times in his remarks on Sunday night. His unique resumé added a sense that he was a serious person for a serious time.

"Canadians know that new threats demand new ideas and a new plan," Carney said. "They know that new challenges demand new leadership."

On that note, he announced the carbon tax would soon be cancelled.