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Canadians were looking for a leader who could chart the waters of international turmoil and uncertainty. Carney鈥檚 skills at managing global crisis, his proven track record of running large organizations and a calm and calculating demeanour could not have been a better fit for the time and circumstances.

There is no question that his central campaign strategy was to play to these strengths and to underscore that the election was about who was best able to stand up to Donald Trump.

But during the campaign he did more that simply pay lip service to these claims and instead laid out his plans in bold and surprising detail.

He said that his negotiations with the U.S. president would be based on strength and the use of 鈥渙verwhelming force.鈥� More than a campaign promise, his starting premise was that the historic bilateral relationship with our greatest ally and trading partner was 鈥渙ver.鈥�

Anyone who knows how campaigning works also knows that sabre-rattling and hyperbole generate the biggest applause lines when you are on the stump. Typically, once elections are over, the victor must tone things down, and move on to the more mundane and pragmatic routine of governing.

But in his victory speech in the early hours of April 29th, this isn鈥檛 what happened. If anything, Mr. Carney doubled down. His starting assertion was that 鈥淎merica wants our land, our resources and our water鈥�; he then offered the reason for this lust: 鈥淧resident Trump wants to break us, so that he can own us.鈥� He concluded with an unequivocal declaration that 鈥渢hat will never happen.鈥�

He was also unambiguous about what his opening gambit would be before any negotiations begin. 鈥淲hen I sit down with Donald Trump,鈥� said Carney, “it will be with the full knowledge than we have many, many other options than the U.S. to build prosperity for all Canadians.鈥� In other words, he does not need to reach an agreement with the Donald Trump and that, to get the deal he wants, he is prepared to walk away from one that might be offered.

It wasn鈥檛 just Canadians who took note of the new prime minister鈥檚 aggressive posture toward Americans and their president.

News coverage from around the world reported not just the results but that the election victory represented an 鈥渁nti-Trump鈥� win for the new prime Minister. In addition to the typical pro forma congratulations offered by world leaders, many, like French President Emmanuel Macron passed along highly personalized messages and tweets 鈥� 鈥漧ooking forward to working with you 鈥� elbow to elbow鈥� 鈥� which called back to the 鈥渆lbows up鈥� message that underscored the Liberal campaign.

Perhaps that鈥檚 why for all his focus on the U.S. during the campaign, there was a reason that the first trip Carney took after being elected Liberal Leader was to Europe and not Mar-a-Lago.

Similarly, while he may have had a courtesy call with Donald Trump the day after the election, you can pretty much guarantee that he has had many more conversations since then with international leaders such as British Prime Minister Kier Starmer, EU Commissioner Ursula van der Leyen and his elbows up buddy in Paris.

Indeed, Britain, France and Germany have all signalled a willingness to join together with Canada in a unified anti-tariff front. And lest we forget, among Carney鈥檚 鈥渕any, many options,鈥� Canada already has a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the EU that, though it went nowhere under Justin Trudeau, is waiting to be dusted off by Mark Carney.

There is lots of evidence that there is a real appetite to coalesce around a leader who is capable and willing to take on an anti-tariff crusade on behalf of the Western world 鈥� and perhaps even beyond.

The president and new prime minister are scheduled to this week. We will soon find out if Carney is prepared to take on this mantle, or if his avowed strategy was only scripted as applause lines.