Mark Carney wins Nepean riding, entering Parliament for 1st time

Liberal Leader Mark Carney is projected by Global News to win his Ottawa riding of Nepean in Monday’s federal election, gaining a seat in the House of Commons for the first time.

Global News is projecting the Liberals under Carney will form government, giving the party their fourth mandate and keeping Carney in the Prime Minister’s Office.

However, it is not clear at this time whether the Liberals will form a majority or minority government.

“That is the spirit of Nepean behind me,” Carney said as he opened his victory speech at Liberal campaign headquarters in Ottawa, in front of a crowd of volunteers.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

“I chose to enter politics because because I felt we needed big changes in this country, but big changes guided by strong Canadian values.”

Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, had never held political office before he launched his successful bid to become leader of the Liberal party and succeed former prime minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his intention to resign in January.

Carney was sworn in as prime minister days after winning the Liberal leadership in March, and called an election just over a week later.

Despite his roots in the Northwest Territories, where he was born, and Edmonton, where he grew up, Carney ultimately decided to run in the suburban Ottawa riding of Nepean, which was considered a more safe Liberal seat.

The riding had been held by Chandra Arya since 2015, but he was disqualified by the party from running for re-election this year shortly after he was dismissed as a candidate in the Liberal leadership race.

Carney was acclaimed as the nominee soon after Arya’s disqualification.

Nepean is directly north of Carleton, the increasingly suburban Ottawa riding held by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre since 2004. Carleton has included parts of what is now Nepean during various redistricting changes over the past 20 years.