Canada's Carney calls early election, seeks mandate against Trump's trade war, annexation threats

With polls indicating a tight race between his Liberal Party and the Conservatives, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney Sunday called early elections for April 28, pledging to tackle a trade war and defeat Donald Trump’s “threat” to annex the country.

Carney formally requested the dissolution of Parliament on Sunday during a meeting with Governor General Mary Simon, the representative of Head of state King Charles III, officially launching the election campaign.

Carney, a former two-time central banker with no previous political or election campaign experience, captured the Liberal leadership two weeks ago by persuading party members he was the best person to tackle Trump.

Though the vote was originally scheduled for October 20, Carney is seeking to capitalise on his party’s significant rebound in the polls since January, when Trump escalated threats against Canada and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation.

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“We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump’s unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty,” Carney said.

“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. I’ve just requested that the Governor General dissolve Parliament and call an election for April 28th, and she has agreed,” Carney told reporters after the Governor General - the personal representative of King Charles, Canada’s head of state - approved his request for an election.

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.

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Now Carney has five weeks to win over Canadians. Polls suggest the Liberals, who have been in power since 2015 and badly trailed the official opposition Conservatives at the start of the year, are now slightly ahead of their rivals.

“We moved from an election where people wanted change to an election that’s really much more about leadership,” said Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs.

“The ability of the Conservatives to attack the Liberals has been greatly diminished, because people are focused on the here and now and the near term future, not on what happened over the last 10 years,” he said by phone.

The Conservatives have sought to portray Carney as an elitist who plans to continue the Trudeau-era policy of high government spending. They also accuse him of being less than clear about how he transferred his personal financial assets into a blind trust.

Carney bristled last week when asked about the trust, and accused the reporter asking of engaging in “conflict and ill will”. The prickly reaction could give hope to the Conservatives that Carney might stumble during what will be his first campaign.

Key to any victory will be a good performance in the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec. Carney had trouble at one press conference when asked to respond in French, first misunderstanding the question and then answering in English.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, on the other hand, speaks flawless French and is a seasoned politician who has fought seven elections.

Laura Stephenson, a politics professor at Western University in the Canadian city of London, said Carney’s inexperience might not be that important given the Trump factor.

“There’s a different kind of comparison that’s being made right between the leaders and what are they going to be able to do,” she said. “I have a feeling we’re going to see a little more grace extended than is usually given to politicians during this campaign.”

An online Angus Reid poll of 4,009 people released on Monday put the Liberals on 42% public support and the Conservatives on 37%. Angus Reid said the margin of error was around 1.5%, 19 times out of 20.

An online Leger poll of 1,568 people for the National Post released the same day put the Liberals on 42% with the Conservatives on 39%. Leger said the margin of error was around 2.5%, 19 times out of 20.

With inputs from agencies