CALGARY, Alberta (OSV News) — Mark Carney remained prime minister of Canada after his Liberal Party won the most seats in Parliament following a campaign in which he promised to aggressively confront U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs and annexation.
The Liberals fell three seats short of winning a majority government, according to the final count, meaning it must draw the support of another minority party to pass important legislation such as the budget.
The April 28 victory delivered a fourth consecutive term for the Liberals. It also capped a swift reversal of fortunes as the party, which trailed the opposition Conservatives by more than 20 points in most polls at the start of 2025.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre — who lost his own seat in Parliament — campaigned on discontent over what he called a “lost Liberal decade,” pointing to high housing prices, sluggish economic growth and perceptions of rising crime. But the pitch fell short as Carney promised to defend the country against Trump, who has repeatedly said he wants to make Canada the 51st state. Trump has levied 25% tariffs on Canadian imports in addition to other tariffs targeting Canadian industry, and called the mutually agreed upon 1908 borders of the two countries an “artificially drawn line.”
“America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country,” Carney, a Catholic, told jubilant supporters in the early hours of April 29. “These are not idle threats: President Trump is trying to break us, so that America can own us. … That will never, ever happen.”
Canada fought off three American invasion attempts in the War of 1812 when it was still a British colony — the war is considered foundational to Canada’s eventual independence. Catholics played a pivotal role in Canada’s defense, with Mohawk Catholic warriors from Kahnawake, St. Kateri Tekakwitha’s village, and French-speaking Catholic militia, playing a decisive military role alongside British regulars in defeating U.S. forces.
Mark Carney goes to Washington
Mark Carney, who originally hails from Canada’s Northwest Territories, headed to the U.S. May 5 and met with Trump the following day. Both men held an amicable televised meeting in the Oval Office and agreed the trade relationship between the two countries would have to be renegotiated. Carney emphasized Canada “won’t be for sale, ever,” in response to Trump’s 51st state talk, while Trump riposted, “Never say never.”
Trump, who was critical of the Conservative Poilievre during the Canadian federal elections and dismissive of former Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared respectful of Carney overall in the exchange. He seemed to suggest also his talk of making Canada the 51st state was prompted by Trudeau, Carney’s unpopular predecessor and fellow Catholic, telling Trump that U.S. tariffs would destroy Canada.
Carney’s Liberal Party leans center-left, but as Trump threatened Canada and Trudeau stepped down in favor of Carney, it rebounded to draw heavy support from the left-wing New Democratic Party and the Bloc Quebecois, a party advocating sovereignty for the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec.
Carney, 60, previously served as governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England. He promoted himself as a competent public servant who guided important economies through the turbulence of the 2008 economic crisis and 2016 Brexit referendum.
“Seasoned leadership from his experience to lead the country in a crisis was the biggest appeal on the positive side,” Jamie Ellerton, principal at Conaptus, a strategic communications firm, told OSV News.
Measuring Mark Carney and the Liberals against Catholic Teaching
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops alluded to Canadians’ economic angst, saying in a pre-election statement, “In a time of significant economic uncertainty, Canada needs a national economic vision that promotes the common good while respecting international obligations and fostering global solidarity.”
The bishops urged Catholics to consider a number of issues before voting. “Among them is the fundamental right to life — from conception to natural death,” the bishops said. This right is being undermined by the lack of legal protection for the unborn, the ongoing expansion of eligibility for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), and the insufficient access to quality palliative care for those who are suffering at the end of life.”
The bishops raised concern “over growing intolerance toward religious communities in Canada,” along with a parliamentary committee recommendation to strip “anti-abortion organizations” and religious groups of their charitable tax status designation.
“We are asked to examine policies that affect access to education, healthcare, housing, and social services for all, and to support initiatives that honour the family as the fundamental unit of society and uphold the dignity of every human person, created male and female in the image of God.”
Abortion on demand is legal in Canada and has been used by the Liberals as a wedge issue against the Conservatives. Trudeau championed a right to abortion and said he would not sign the nomination papers of any Liberal candidate expressing pro-life views. He later said Liberal members of parliament couldn’t vote against abortion restrictions.
Mark Carney’s Abortion Politics
Carney embraced Trudeau’s abortion policies and accused Poilievre of wanting to impose restrictions — something the Conservative leader denied.
“I absolutely support a woman’s right to choose. Unreservedly. And will defend it as the Liberal Party has defended it, proudly and consistently,” he said in a response to a question prefaced by the comments, “You’re a practicing Catholic” and “you went to church” this morning.
The Catholic Church teaches that human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the first moment of conception, and since the first century has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion.
“Carney is following the party line when it comes to abortion,” said D.W. Lafferty, an independent scholar and Catholic commentator in Ottawa, Ontario. Lafferty suspected Carney would not change Liberal policies on abortion as the Conservatives have preferred not to push the issue, although the party has pro-life parliamentarians. “We’ve never really had a Conservative candidate that I can recall who made that an issue,” he said.
The issue of Medical Assistance in Dying, or MAID, which includes assisted suicide and euthanasia, barely surfaced in the recent election. Since legalization in 2016, Canada has become known by some as the euthanasia capital of the world. The U.N. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on April 6 asked Canada to repeal MAID for individuals without a terminal illness — such as people with mentally illness. After Canada lawmakers delayed this provision in March 2023 and again in February 2024, it is to take effect March 17, 2027.
Analysts expect little change on the issue with the new Liberal government.
“You cannot be a Liberal (member of Parliament) and be socially conservative,” Yuan Yi Zhu, a Canadian academic in the Netherlands, told OSV News.
Carney’s Unity Pledge, Admiration for Pope Francis
Still Canada’s bishops prayed the federal election would become “a profound opportunity for Catholics to contribute to building a civilization of love.”
Regarding Mark Carney, Jacquie Newman, a political science professor at King’s University College in London, Ontario, told the Toronto-based Catholic Register that the prime minister’s victory speech did strike “a voice of unity” and a desire to collaborate with all Canadians.
A married father of four daughters, Carney regularly attends church at St. Joseph’s Parish in Ottawa and mentioned his church attendance during the campaign.
He has also expressed admiration for the teachings of the late Pope Francis, having served on the Council for Inclusive Capitalism, an initiative backed by the late pontiff.
“He obviously believes in markets. But he’s trying to look at how markets can be, can be organized to serve the common good,” Joe Gunn, former executive director of Le Centre Oblat — A Voice for Justice, told OSV News.
“You can see that he’s grappling with some of those key themes that are in the encyclicals and it’s clear that he’s read them,” added Gunn, who attends the same parish as Carney.
Carney eulogized Pope Francis as “a shepherd of deep moral clarity, spiritual courage, and boundless compassion,” in a statement issued after the pontiff’s death April 21.
He wrote a 2021 book, “Value(s): Building a Better World for All,” which interrogates markets and capitalism. He shared an anecdote in the book on Pope Francis joining members of the Council for Inclusive Capitalism for lunch in 2014 and telling a parable on turning wine into grappa.
“Humanity is many things — passionate, curious, rational, altruistic, creative, self-interested. But the market is one thing: self-interest. The market is humanity distilled,” Carney recalled the pope saying. The pope then continued: “Your job is to turn the grappa back into wine, to turn the market back into humanity. This isn’t theology. This is reality. This is the truth.”
David Agren writes for OSV News from Calgary, Alberta. OSV News national news editor Peter Jesserer Smith contributed to this analysis.
