OTTAWA — Newly minted Liberal leader Mark Carney is promising a "seamless" and "quick" transition as he takes the reins from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Carney made the comments Monday following his resounding victory in Sunday's leadership vote but did not offer anything more specific about the timing.
In the coming days, Carney will need to be sworn in as prime minister, name a new cabinet and sort out his plans for the coming federal election.
Carney told reporters on Parliament Hill that he had a long private meeting with Trudeau on Monday that touched on the coming transition, national security and Canada-U.S. relations.
"I just spoke with the prime minister at length on issues around the transition. It will be quick. We’ll be coming back to you soon," he said. "The good news is that you’ll be seeing probably more of me than you want. You’ll have other opportunities and we’ll be making announcements on that."
Carney has chosen former cabinet minister Marco Mendicino as his incoming chief of staff.
Carney also separately addressed the Liberal caucus on Parliament Hill behind closed doors Monday.
An early election call is widely expected within days or weeks of Carney being installed as prime minister, but the timeline is foggy.
Even Liberal MPs have said they have no idea when the next election will happen.
"That’s up to the new boss," said Liberal House leader Steven MacKinnon.
Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said the party has a short window until March 24, when Parliament is scheduled to return from prorogation.
"The opposition parties have been very clear for weeks and months now," he said. "They have decided that they would bring this government down regardless of what we could do, so this is the latest day we can be in government and we’ll see whether we should call an election before (then)."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2025.
Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press
