Canada ex-central banker Mark Carney launches PM bid [Video]

Mark Carney, the former governor of Canada’s central bank, on Thursday launched his bid to succeed Justin Trudeau as Liberal Party leader and prime minister, immediately becoming a frontrunner in the race.

The 59-year-old Harvard- and Oxford-educated economist kicked off his campaign at a hockey rink in Edmonton, Alberta where he grew up.

“I’m doing this because Canada is the best country in the world, but it still could be even better,” Carney told a crowd of supporters.

Pitching himself as an outsider and an unconventional politician with strong economic chops, he vowed to get the Canadian economy “back on track” and beat back Donald Trump’s tariffs threat.

Carney is expected to go head-to-head with his friend, former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland, who is scheduled to announce her leadership bid on Sunday.

Freeland’s surprise resignation in December, after clashing with her boss over how to respond to Trump’s threat …