Mark Carney could make shock bid to OUST Trudeau – Ex-BoE boss tipped to run for Canada PM

The city of Ottawa has been besieged by anti-vaxx protesters with a mass of trucks, protests, desecrated monuments and air horns – mounting pressure on Justin Trudeau and forcing the local mayor to declare a state of emergency. But clues are starting to emerge that Ottawan Mr Carney, who also served as Governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013, may have spotted an opportunity to further his political ambitions. In an article for the Globe and Mail newspaper, he called for the occupation’s supporters to be punished with the “full force of the law” while also lashing out at local authorities for their “appeasement” of the protesters.

He accused the protesters of “sedition” and said: “They are not patriots. This is not about ‘restoring freedom’ but beginning anarchy.

“People have been terrorised for more than a week,” he added, with families “deprived of sleep for days on end by the constant barrage of 100 decibel noise”.

But his hardline rhetoric on the issue has led experts to tip him to run as a potential leadership candidate as Canada becomes incresingly frustrated with current Prime Minister Mr Trudeau.

Nottingham University academic Tyler Kustra, a former adviser to the Canadian parliament, said: “Trudeau called an election hoping to get a majority and he failed at that, so there is talk that that weakened him.

“Now Mark Carney and Chrystia Freeland [Canada’s finance minister] are both the whispered candidates for frontrunner to replace him whenever he goes.

“There’s been talk that he might go before the next election, and given that he has a minority that could be within a year or two.”

The expert added: “I guess Carney has decided to come back out and wants to re-establish himself as another possibility there.

“That’s what he is playing right now. We’ll see if he decides he really wants to run or not.

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But September’s election in Canada may have dramatically altered that dynamic, with the under-fire Mr Trudeau barely clinging onto office in a second minority government – backed by just a 32.6 percent share of the vote.

This potentially provides a huge opening for Mr Carney, should he decided to throw his hat into the ring as a leadership candidate.

Mr Trudeau continues to come under mounting pressure, as the current protester turmoil has also had a say in ending one political career.

Earlier this month, Conservative leader Erin O’Toole was forced out by his own MPs following continued fears he was moving towards the centre on key issues such as climate change and gun laws.