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“I’m here to earn your trust to lead that fight. I’m back home in Edmonton to declare my candidacy for leader of the Liberal party and prime minister of Canada,” he said.

Carney is the first major contender to officially confirm he will be a candidate. The Star has confirmed former finance minister Chrystia Freeland will officially launch her campaign at an event in pc28����on Sunday. Government House leader Karina Gould will announce in her home riding of Burlington, Ont., this weekend.��

At his launch, surrounded by supporters and several Liberal MPs, Carney promised an economic focus in his campaigns for leader and for the general election.

“We can’t redistribute what we don’t have and we can’t support the vulnerable in our society or defend this great country, if we have a weak economy,” he said.

Carney took a dig at Trudeau when he said the prime minister didn’t have a close eye on Canada’s economy. Carney pledged to do it differently.

“I know I’m not the only Liberal in Canada who believes that the prime minister and his team let their attention wander from the economy too often,” he said. “I won’t lose focus.”

Along with distancing himself from Trudeau, Carney attacked Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

“Conservatives don’t run around saying Canada is broken because they want to fix it. They want a license to demolish and destroy, including many of the things on which we all regular people depend,” he said. “Their three-word sound bites won’t solve problems, but they will hurt regular people.”

Carney is seeking the leadership of a Liberal party that is currently trailing Poilievre’s Conservatives by more than 25 points in many polls. But Carney insisted he can lead the party to victory.

“The fight back starts now,” he said. “We are going to win the general election.”��

Carney has never held any elected office and did not reveal where in the country he would seek a seat. Asked if he was committed to staying leader even if he didn’t win the general election, he said he would be making a commitment to the people who vote for him.��

“I need to become an MP and I will be making a commitment to those constituents, to serve them, whatever happens in the election.”

Carney’s entrance into the race to replace Trudeau has been expected since before the prime minister announced this month his plans to step down. Trudeau’s news triggered the Liberal leadership race and saw Parliament prorogued — or suspended��— until March 24. Once MPs return, opposition leaders plan to bring down the government, setting the stage for a spring election.

Trudeau stepped down after former finance minister Chrystia Freeland’s shocking resignation sparked a wave of caucus dissent. She reportedly left in part because Trudeau planned to replace her in the finance portfolio with Carney.��

Carney wouldn’t confirm what position he was offered, but said he was being asked to join a team to confront Donald Trump’s tariffs.��

“In the end, the team didn’t come together for reasons that we know. We still have the crisis there’s still a need to stand up and I’m standing up, because of that.”

Carney, 59, was born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, but grew up in Edmonton, in the same neighbourhood where he launched his campaign and attended high school.�� ��

In addition to Carney, Freeland and Gould, Ottawa backbench MP Chandra Arya has announced his plans to run, as have former Quebec MP Frank Baylis and Nova Scotia MP Jaime Battiste.��

Carney had previously declined multiple invitations to run as a Liberal candidate.

Carney attended Harvard and Oxford universities before working as an investment banker and at the finance department. He was chair of Brookfield Asset Management and Bloomberg, as well as the United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance and a board member of payment processor Stripe.��

He said he was stepping back from all of those posts to run.��

“I resigned all my roles, cut all my ties. I am all in. I am all in in this fight because it is so fundamentally important.”

Even before he formally entered the race, Carney had attracted endorsements from Liberal MPs.��

“He has the economic experience we need to stand up to Donald Trump’s tariff threats and protect Canadian jobs and Canadian sovereignty,” said Scarborough MP Salma Zahid.��

“Mark is globally respected, understands the challenging geopolitical landscape, and has the economic insight to steer us through the difficulties ahead,” said B.C. MP Patrick Weiler.��

Carney also received endorsements from Calgary MP George Chahal, Quebec MP Sophie Chatel, New Brunswick MP Wayne Long and Vaughan MP Francesco Sorbara.

The Conservatives have been attacking Carney for months, with Poilievre dubbing him “Carbon Tax Carney,” and tying him closely to the Liberal government’s policies. Poilievre has accused him of holding the same views as the Trudeau government.

“All Liberal politicians actively worked to pass into law the job-killing inflationary carbon tax��— a tax that Carbon Tax Carney endorsed in his book,” said Poilievre in a statement shortly after Trudeau’s announcement of his pending resignation.��

The Liberal party has clarified some of the rules for its coming leadership race. Candidates can pay the $350,000 entrance fee in installments, with the first $50,000 due on Jan. 23 and another $50,000 due by the end of the month, with two more payments of $125,000 each due in February.��

The party has also set an expense limit of $5 million for each campaign, and prohibited candidates from taking on more than $200,000 in debt.��

Candidates have until Jan. 27 to register supporters, who will then be able to vote in the contest. The race will be determined by a preferential ballot, with voters ranking their choices.

The winner will be announced on March 9, two weeks before Parliament is set to resume.��