Canada’s new prime minister Mark Carney is expected to announce snap elections today (Sunday), seeking a stronger mandate as his country fights off a trade war and annexation threats from United States President Donald Trump.
That will change on April 28, if, as expected, Carney announces he is bringing parliamentary elections forward several months from October.
Government sources said that he would announce the decision at 12:30pm local time in a speech to Canada’s 41-million-strong nation.
In power for a decade, the Liberal government had slid into deep unpopularity, but Carney will be hoping to ride a wave of Canadian patriotism to a new majority — thanks to Trump’s threats.
Trump has riled his northern neighbour by repeatedly dismissing its sovereignty and borders as artificial, and urging it to join the United States as the 51st state.
The ominous remarks have been accompanied by Trump’s trade war, imposing tariffs on imports from Canada that could wreck its economy.
“In this time of crisis the government needs a strong and clear mandate,” Carney told supporters on Thursday in a speech in the western city of Edmonton.
Domestic issues such as the cost of living and immigration usually dominate Canadian elections, but this year one key topic tops the list: who can best handle Trump.
The president’s open hostility toward his northern neighbour — a NATO ally and historically one of his country’s closest partners — has upended the Canadian political landscape.
Trudeau, who had been in power since 2015, was deeply unpopular when he announced he was stepping down, with Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives seen as election favourites just weeks ago.
But the polls have narrowed spectacularly in Carney’s favour since he took over the Liberals, and now analysts are calling this Trump-overshadowed race too close to call.
