Carney names ex-Blackrock executive Mark Wiseman as new US ambassador

Prime Minister Mark Carney has named financier and former BlackRock executive Mark Wiseman as Canada's ambassador to the United States ahead of major trade talks with the Trump administration.

Wiseman, an experienced investment manager, is taking on the task as Canada works to repair its strained relationship with the United States while preparing for a tense renegotiation of the current free trade agreement.

His appointment follows current Ambassador Kirsten Hillman's announcement that she is ending her term in Washington.

Carney said Wiseman will “bring vast experience, extensive contacts and deep commitment” to the post at a “definitive moment of transformation” for Canada and the United States.

“As a key member of our negotiating team, he will advance the interests of Canadian workers, businesses and institutions while creating opportunities for both Canada and the United States,” the prime minister said in a statement Monday.

The new ambassador is expected to take up his duties in mid-February, Carney added.

Wiseman, 55, said to be a close friend of Carney, is currently a senior adviser and chairman of the Canadian financial services company Lazard and a senior adviser to the Boston Consulting Group.

In March, Carney appointed him to the Prime Minister's Council on Canada-U.S. Relations, a group created to manage the current turbulent bilateral relationship.

The Yale graduates also previously worked in New York and Paris as an associate at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell.

He is one of the co-founders of the Century Initiative, a charity that lobbies to increase Canada's immigration rate, with the goal of reaching 100 million people in the country by 2100 to support economic growth.

The role at the Century Initiative drew criticism ahead of his appointment.

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre accused Wiseman of being “the man who proposed policies that raise the cost of living, kill jobs and put pressure on our health care system.”

“Why does the Prime Minister want to appoint him as ambassador to Washington?”

Beyond domestic politics, Wiseman's time in Washington will deal with the current rocky relationship between the U.S. and Canada.

Trump ended trade talks with Canada in late October, angered by anti-tariff ads commissioned by the province of Ontario and shown in the United States.

Trump imposed industry tariffs on Canadian metals, lumber and automobiles.

It also imposed a broad tariff rate of 35% on all goods, although most were exempt from tariffs under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), known as USMCA in the United States, a trade pact.

A planned review of CUSMA is currently underway, starting with public hearings and stakeholder consultations, after which Canada, the United States and Mexico could agree to extend it or let it expire.