Prime Minister Mark Carney has triggered a federal election, with voters set to head to the polls on April 28.
Carney asked the governor general on Sunday to dissolve Parliament just nine days after he was sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister, following his successful campaign to replace Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader.
Carney said he’s looking for a strong mandate to stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats and negotiate “the best deal for Canadians.”
“There is so much more to do to secure Canada, to invest in Canada, to build Canada, to unite Canada. That’s why I’m asking for a strong positive mandate from my fellow Canadians,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa Sunday.
“We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump’s unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty,” he added.
The long-anticipated campaign is expected to bring a major change to the federal government regardless of which party wins.
Carney has promised to steer the Liberals in a different direction after Trudeau’s nine-year tenure as prime minister, including his move on March 14 to axe the consumer carbon price and pursuing new economic policies.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, is vowing to reverse nearly all of Trudeau’s policies, from the carbon price on industrial emitters to immigration to taxation, and shrink the public service.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet are also pushing for change in Ottawa.
All federal party leaders are expected to focus their campaigns on the economic threat posed by Trump’s trade war with Canada, which has included several rounds of tariffs with the promise of more to come.
Trump has also threatened Canada’s sovereignty, repeatedly calling for making Canada the 51st U.S. state and using “economic force” to do so.
Speaking to reporters in Gatineau, Que., ahead of the election call, Poilievre said if elected, he will insist Trump recognize the independence and sovereignty of Canada, stop tariffing Canada while at the same time, strengthen the country “so that we can be capable of standing [on] our own two feet and standing up to the Americans where and when necessary.”
“We don’t go looking for a fight, but we’re ready if one comes looking for us,” he added.
When asked if he respects Trump, Poilievre replied that he respects the office of the president of the United States.
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“You can be respectful and firm, and I believe we have to be both,” he said.
Lingering impacts on the cost of living from years of inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic will also be a top campaign issue, as well as housing, immigration and jobs.
An Ipsos poll for Global News released in late February showed the Liberals narrowly ahead of the Conservatives in a hypothetical election matchup for the first time since 2021.
Under Carney, the Liberals have further widened that lead over the Tories, according to the latest Ipsos poll released earlier this week.
The Liberals have steadily erased the Conservatives’ double-digit polling lead since January, when Trudeau announced his intention to resign and Trump entered the White House.
Former Liberal deputy prime minister Anne McLellan said the biggest advantage for the Liberal campaign is having Carney at the helm, saying “he understands a time of crisis such as the one we’re in.”
But she added that Trump may end up “throwing a grenade” into the campaign that could pull Carney off the trail and disrupt things.
“I think the party and Mr. Carney is talking about the kinds of things that matter right now to Canadians. Number one, how are you going to deal with Donald Trump?” McLellan said.
Cole Hogan, a Conservative strategist, said the Liberals and Carney “do have an edge,” on how people perceive them being better to deal with Trump.
When asked what is the biggest threat to the Conservative campaign, Hogan said: “I think the risk here too is just the volatility of Trump and tariffs.”
“The NDP appears to be a non-element in this conversation,” he added.
However, Hogan also said the trade war will likely bring the focus back to the economy, where he says Conservatives tend to resonate more with voters as happened in the Ontario election where the economy became the focus, and “we might see a similar dynamic play out right here.”
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