Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney Part 3
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00:00Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney. His political career and achievements.
00:08Everything about the Im Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney his life and everything about him.
00:13Part 3. On December 2nd, 2020, Carney delivered the first of four Wreath Lectures,
00:20the BBC's flagship annual series. In how we get what we value, from moral to market sentiments,
00:26he said society had come to esteem financial value over human value and moved from market
00:32economies to market societies. The series covers a trio of crises—credit, COVID, and climate.
00:40After becoming Prime Minister, Carney reversed the Trudeau government's capital gains tax increase
00:45and promised to implement a middle-class tax cut and a new approach to federal budgeting
00:50that would save taxpayers money if appointed as Prime Minister.
00:54Carney warned many times that Brexit was expected to negatively influence the UK economy.
01:00Consequently, Brexit activists accused him of making statements favouring the UK's
01:04continued membership of the European Union, EU, before the British-EU membership referendum.
01:11He replied that he felt it was his duty to speak up on such issues.
01:15In September 2018, Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
01:19confirmed speculation that Carney would remain as governor until January 2020 in order to ensure
01:25a smooth transition after the UK was set to leave the EU on March 29, 2019, a departure deadline that
01:32was missed. In November 2018, Carney warned that large parts of the British economy were not ready
01:38for a no-deal Brexit. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Carney explained that fewer than half
01:44businesses had initiated contingency plans. In February 2019, speaking about the global economy,
01:51Carney provided a less negative perspective on Brexit, stating that globalization has resulted
01:57in imbalances of democracy and sovereignty, and that Brexit is the first test of a new global order
02:02and could prove the acid test of whether a way can be found to broaden the benefits of openness
02:07while enhancing democratic accountability. Carney also said that the increase in the perception
02:13that a no-deal Brexit is likely is evidenced by betting odds and financial market asset pricing,
02:20resulting in the UK now having the highest FX foreign exchange, implied volatility, the highest
02:27equity risk premium, and lowest real yields of any advanced economy. In 2025, Carney promised to spend
02:352% of Canada's GDP on defence the NATO target by the end of 2030. During the 2025 Liberal
02:43Party leadership race and in light of aggressive actions taken by the United States under the
02:48second presidency of Donald Trump, Carney said that he supported deepening relationships with fellow
02:54Commonwealth countries, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. Carney has often advocated for
03:00environmental sustainability. He was appointed as a United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Change in
03:052019. In March 2021, Carney stated that in Canada there is a huge economic opportunity in the transition
03:12to a sustainable economy with reduced carbon emissions. He says that it is time to listen to scientists that
03:19have long been warning about the risks posed by climate change. Carney had initially supported the
03:24consumer carbon tax as implemented in 2019, but stated in a May 2024 Senate Committee hearing that the tax had
03:32served a purpose up until now. In a January 2025 interview with Jon Stewart, Carney attributed much of
03:39Canada's emissions to the oil industry, which he argued must become cleaner rather than ordinary
03:45Canadians changing their lifestyles. During his Liberal leadership campaign, Carney proposed replacing
03:51the existing consumer carbon tax with an incentive program to reward green choices, while keeping tax on
03:58large industrial emitters. Carney also said that the increase in the perception that a no-deal Brexit is likely,
04:03is evidenced by betting odds and financial market asset pricing, resulting in the UK now having the
04:09highest FX foreign exchange implied volatility, the highest equity risk premium and lowest real yields
04:16of any advanced economy. In 2025, Carney promised to spend 2% of Canada's GDP on defence the NATO target
04:24by the end of 2030. During the 2025 Liberal Party leadership race, and in light of aggressive actions
04:30taken by the United States under the second presidency of Donald Trump, Carney said that he supported deepening
04:37relationships with fellow Commonwealth countries Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. Carney has
04:43often advocated for environmental sustainability. He was appointed as a United Nations Special Envoy on
04:49Climate Change in 2019. In March 2021, Carney stated that in Canada there is a huge economic opportunity in
04:57the transition to a sustainable economy with reduced carbon emissions. He says that it is time to listen to
05:03scientists that have long been warning about the risks posed by climate change. Carney had initially
05:09supported the consumer carbon tax as implemented in 2019, but stated in a May 2024 Senate committee
05:16hearing that the tax had served a purpose up until now. In a January 2025 interview with Jon Stewart,
05:23Carney attributed much of Canada's emissions to the oil industry, which he argued must become cleaner
05:29rather than ordinary Canadians changing their lifestyles. During his Liberal leadership campaign,
05:34Carney proposed replacing the existing consumer carbon tax with an incentive program to reward green
05:40choices, while keeping tax on large industrial emitters. He also promised to introduce a carbon
05:46border adjustment to penalize high-polluting foreign imports. In a March 2024 op-ed in The Globe and Mail,
05:53Carney advocated for a low-carbon housing policy favoring densification over sprawl.
05:57He argued that it should be easier for a homebuilder to densify by eliminating unit maxima, abolishing
06:04parking minima, and allowing taller buildings and more density near transit lines. Carney published the
06:10book Values Building a Better World for All in 2021. It was positively reviewed by John Iveson for
06:17the National Post and by Will Hutton for The Guardian, but panned by Philip Aldrich for The Times.
06:23Carney's next book, The Hinge Time to Build an Even Better Canada, is expected to be released on July 1,
06:302025, after initially being slated for a May 13 release according to the US Amazon website.
06:38Carney met British economist Diana Fox, who is also active in various environmental and social justice
06:44causes, while studying at the University of Oxford. They were married in July 1994,
06:50while he was finishing his doctoral thesis. They have four children and lived in Toronto before
06:55moving to the Rockcliffe Park neighborhood of Ottawa and then moving to London in 2013.
07:01They moved back to Ottawa when Carney left his role at the Bank of England in 2020. Carney's younger
07:07brother Brian lives in Northern Ireland. His brother-in-law is the third Baron Rotherwick,
07:12to whom his wife's sister is married. He is also godfather to the son of fellow politician
07:18Chrystia Freeland, who nevertheless ran against him in the 2025 Liberal Party leadership election.
07:25Carney is a Catholic and was named the most influential Catholic in Britain by the tablet in 2015.
07:31He speaks French but has described his proficiency as far from perfect.
07:36He was a triple citizen of Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom,
07:40having obtained Irish citizenship in the late 1980s and British citizenship in 2018,
07:46the latter while Governor of the Bank of England, fulfilling a commitment he made when accepting
07:51the role. Shortly before becoming Canadian Prime Minister in March 2025, he said that he had started
07:57the process of formally renouncing his British and Irish citizenship to signify his commitment to Canada.
08:03In April 2025, his campaign stated that he had renounced the other citizenships prior to being
08:10sworn in as Prime Minister. Carney has distant relatives in Liverpool and is a supporter of the city's
08:17football team Everton FC, though his wife supports Arsenal FC. He is also a supporter of the Edmonton
08:22Oilers and the Edmonton Elks. He completed the 2015 London Marathon in 3 hours, 31 minutes and 22 seconds,
08:30marking a 17-minute improvement on his time at the 2011 Ottawa Marathon.
08:35Born the third of four children, Mr. Carney lived his early life in Fort Smith,
08:40Northwest Territories, where his father was a school principal and his mother, a teacher.
08:45Mr. Carney was raised Catholic and has Irish ancestry. In 1971 when he was six, his family moved to Edmonton.
08:53Mr. Carney attended both Harvard and Oxford for his education.
08:56During his time at the latter he met his wife Diana Fox, a British economist. They have four children,
09:04Cleo, Tess, Amelia and Sasha. Mr. Carney is a triple citizen, Canadian, Irish and British,
09:12though he has begun the process to renounce the non-Canadian citizenships. Mr. Carney is the first
09:18Canadian Prime Minister to never have held prior elected office. He served as Governor of the Bank of
09:24Canada from 2008 to 2013 during Stephen Harper's Conservative rule and held the same post at the
09:31Bank of England from 2013 to 2020. Mr. Carney is widely credited for shepherding Canada through the
09:38financial crisis and the Great Recession of 2008. He was instrumental in forging a consensus with the US,
09:46France and the UK for the Emergency Coordinated Interest Rate Cut. A delicate task, given the announcement
09:53came just before an election. He also played a key role in tempering hostilities at the G7 meeting
09:59shortly after, a summit then-federal finance minister James Flaherty called the most dramatic
10:04weekend in his career. He also took unprecedented steps to improve liquidity for Canada's big banks
10:11and led the international charge for an overhaul of the way countries manage and identify financial risk.
10:16As Governor of the Bank of England, he helped steer that country's financial system through the 2016
10:22Brexit referendum and its immediate fallout. After leaving central banking, Mr. Carney took on several
10:29executive, board and advisory positions. Most notably he joined Brookfield Asset Management,
10:35a Canadian-American investment company, as the chair of the corporation's environmental,
10:40social and corporate governance investment strategy. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres
10:47also appointed Mr. Carney as UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance. In this role,
10:54he was able to create a global financial alliance by bringing together banks, insurance companies and
11:00asset managers to direct capital to meet climate targets. In 2025, that alliance unraveled, with members
11:08bailing, fearing political backlash, legal action and loss of business in the United States after
11:15President Trump's return to the White House. In 2024, he made the jump into partisan politics more than a
11:22decade after the liberals first tried to recruit him, and in the wake of several failed attempts by then
11:28Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to have Mr. Carney join his government. During the liberal leadership debates,
11:35Mr. Carney was questioned about his stint at Brookfield, during which time the company relocated its
11:42headquarters from Toronto to New York City. He said the move was formally rubber-stamped after he had
11:49left the company. But the Brookfield board had voted unanimously in favour of the move while Mr. Carney was
11:54chair. He had issued a letter to shareholders backing that proposal. During a press conference, Mr. Carney also
12:01declined to disclose his compensation at Brookfield, which has never been released, despite him being
12:07a senior executive. His campaign maintained he'll disclose his finances when conflict of interest
12:13laws require him to do so, and as Prime Minister, he'll put his assets in a blind trust. I stop at this
12:19point today. Until next time, stay curious, stay informed, and keep exploring the world's incredible stories.