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Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday announced a national election would be held on April 28 as Canada faced “the most significant crisis of our lifetime” caused by US President Donald Trump.
Carney called the poll a fortnight after replacing Justin Trudeau as head of Canada’s Liberal party and two months since stepping into the leadership race.
Carney, a former Bank of Canada and Bank of England central bank governor, pledged a “middle class tax cut,” a national dental plan and called for unity in a time of crisis.
“I am asking for your vote, so we can be Canada strong,” he said.
The election campaign will pit Carney, a 60-year-old unelected leader with Wall Street experience, against Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre, a 45-year-old career politician.
“He (Trump) wants to break us so America can own us. We will not let that happen,” Carney said.
The Liberal party’s popularity has risen in response to Trump’s threats of annexation and punitive tariffs.
Poilievre launched his campaign in Ottawa on Sunday and said Canada could not afford another four-years with the Liberal party.
“Time to put Canada first for a change,” he said.
“A new Conservative government that will axe taxes, build homes, cut waste, lock-up criminals, secure our borders and unleash our resources to bring home our jobs and stand up to Trump from a position of strength.”
The Conservatives had been on track to easily win the next general election as widespread discontent over the cost of living and housing affordability has undermined support for the Liberals after Trudeau’s near decade in power.
Poilievre had enjoyed a comfortable 20 point lead in the polls until Trudeau resigned in early January and Trump’s inauguration that same month.
Trump’s hostilities and tariff threats have united Canadians against a new common enemy, the US, leading to a remarkable turnaround of support for the Liberals.
Earlier this month, Alberta premier Danielle Smith, told Breitbart news that she urged the White House to “pause” tariffs that are expected to hit Canada on April 2 to help Poilievre and the Conservative party’s election chances.
Poilievre has tried to distance himself from Trump and the Maga supporters who have backed the Canadian conservative.
“First of all I have said I want the opposite of Donald Trump,” Poilievre said on Sunday.
Andrew Enns from market research firm Leger said the election would come down to who voters think can best manage the economy and who can deal with Trump.
“Carney had the initial upper hand for sure, with the government leading the reaction to the Trump challenges,” he said.
“But the election presents an opportunity for Poilievre to make his case for building a stronger Canadian economy, stronger than what the Liberal have been able to in their nine years in office,” Enns said.
A Leger poll last week reported that 42 per cent of Canadians would vote for the Liberal Party led by Mark Carney, while 39 per cent would vote for the Conservative party. It was the first time the Liberals had taken the lead and a 5-point increase in a week.
However, on Sunday Abacus Data polling showed Conservatives held a narrow lead nationally at 39 per cent with the Liberals close behind at 36 per cent. The New Democratic Party — a key ally for the Trudeau government — trailed on 12 per cent.
On Saturday, the Liberal party announced Carney, who is unelected as a member of parliament, would run for the constituency of Nepean, in Ottawa’s south west.
“This may be the first election in which the leader of the opposition is better known than the prime minister,” said David Coletto, Abacus Data CEO, in regards to Carney’s recent entry into the political arena.
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