{"id":340864,"date":"2025-12-12T17:25:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T17:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/340864\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T17:25:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T17:25:08","slug":"carney-to-name-mark-wiseman-as-canadas-ambassador-to-u-s-sources-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/340864\/","title":{"rendered":"Carney to name Mark Wiseman as Canada\u2019s ambassador to U.S., sources say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to officially announce that he’s chosen financier Mark Wiseman, pictured in 2017, to be Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. this weekend or early next week.MIKE SEGAR\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Canadian financier Mark Wiseman has officially been selected by Prime Minister Mark Carney to take up Canada\u2019s most important diplomatic role as ambassador to the United States as the country prepares for tough USMCA trade talks, two sources say.<\/p>\n

The appointment was approved by cabinet on Thursday, the sources said. The Prime Minister is to make the announcement in the coming days.<\/p>\n

The Globe and Mail is not naming the sources who were not authorized to discuss cabinet discussions.<\/p>\n

Mr. Wiseman, 55, replaces Kirsten Hillman<\/a> who served in Washington since 2017, including the past six years as ambassador.<\/p>\n

One of the sources said the Prime Minister chose Mr. Wiseman, a close friend, because of his extensive business connections in the United States. President Donald Trump and key advisers, such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, would also respect Mr. Wiseman\u2019s financial background, the source said.<\/p>\n

Opposition parties warn PM not to appoint Mark Wiseman ambassador to U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. Wiseman has been heavily involved in institutional investments and mergers and acquisitions, including as chair at Lazard Canada, BlackRock and Boston Consulting Group.<\/p>\n

Canada had been holding talks for months to remove tariffs imposed by Mr. Trump on Canadian goods such as steel, aluminum and softwood lumber, but those negotiations were stalled after Ontario ran anti-tariff ads.<\/p>\n

The focus is now on the United States-Mexico-Canada free-trade deal, which requires all three countries to review the agreement in 2026. The U.S. is expected to seek to renegotiate sections of the pact.<\/p>\n

The USMCA has been a vital shield for Canada during the trade war with the United States. Mr. Trump has imposed a 35-per-cent blanket tariffs for Canadian products that aren\u2019t compliant with the USMCA\u2019s rules of origin, but the carveout means most Canadian goods continue to enter the U.S. tariff-free.<\/p>\n

Ms. Hillman said Tuesday she decided to leave the post to give the Prime Minister the ability to put \u201ca team in place\u201d as negotiations get under way on the review of the USMCA.<\/p>\n

Mr. Wiseman has no diplomatic or government experience, but he is a seasoned institutional investment player. He was formerly chair of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation, CEO of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and a top manager at BlackRock, the world\u2019s largest asset manager.<\/p>\n

Carney rejects idea Trump wants to exit USMCA<\/a><\/p>\n

He was forced to leave his senior executive position at BlackRock in 2019 for failing to disclose a consensual relationship with a colleague, a violation of the company\u2019s policy.<\/p>\n

He is now chair of Lazard, a boutique financial advisory and asset management service. In March, the Prime Minister named Mr. Wiseman to his council of advisers on Canada-U.S. relations.<\/p>\n

Ms. Hillman told The Globe that the next ambassador must quickly build bridges with Mr. Trump\u2019s White House, senior cabinet secretaries and congressional leaders. The new ambassador must also reach out to Mr. Trump\u2019s business and political allies outside Washington, she said.<\/p>\n

Above all, she said, it\u2019s important to listen to what Mr. Trump says and \u201cto find a path forward that works for Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois warned Mr. Carney against appointing his long-time friend to Washington.<\/p>\n

They seized on comments that Mr. Wiseman made as the co-founder of the Century Initiative. The non-profit organization advocates increasing Canada\u2019s population to 100 million by 2100 solely through immigration.<\/p>\n

Mr. Wiseman shared a social-media post in May, 2023, that said \u201c100 million may not be federal policy, but it should be \u2013 even if it makes Quebec howl.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told the House Wednesday that Mr. Wiseman \u201cis someone who has shown contempt for Quebec and cannot negotiate for Quebec.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, said the Century Initiative\u2019s call for 100 million population \u201cis not government policy and never will be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Conservatives also noted that Mr. Wiseman has been quoted as being opposed to supply management, arguing that it inhibits productivity.<\/p>\n

Mr. LeBlanc told the House that \u201cwe will not negotiate supply management with the Americans,\u201d even though President Trump said he wants the Canadian market to be more open to imports from U.S. farmers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to officially announce that he’s chosen financier…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,714,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-340864","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-politics","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}