Canada’s Liberals elect new leader to replace Trudeau as country deals with Trump threats
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Mark Carney, who was governor of Bank of Canada and Bank of England, is front-runner after Trudeau announced plans to resign in January
Voting closed on Sunday in the race to lead Canada's Liberal Party, with a former central banker and political novice favoured to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the country confronts threats from US President Donald Trump.
Mark Carney, who served as the governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, is the front-runner to be named Liberal leader when results are announced, probably before 7pm local time.
Voting closed at 3pm after 151,899 party members cast ballots, the Liberal Party said.
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Carney has racked up endorsements, including from much of Trudeau's cabinet and more than half of Liberals in parliament.
His main challenger is Trudeau's former deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, who held several senior cabinet positions in the Liberal government that was first elected in 2015.
A Freeland win would be a surprise for the party as it heads towards an election that must be held by October, but could come within weeks.
The new Liberal leader will become prime minister in the coming days, turning the page on the Trudeau era, but they may not have the job for long, with current polls putting the Conservatives as slight favourites to win the vote.
Both Freeland and Carney have maintained that they are the best candidate to defend Canada against Trump's attacks.
The US president has repeatedly spoken about annexing Canada and thrown bilateral trade, the lifeblood of the Canadian economy, into chaos with dizzying tariff actions that have veered in various directions since he took office.
Party supporters gathered on Sunday at an Ottawa hall draped in red where the winner will be announced.
