Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has called for a snap election amid a festering trade war and annexation threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Carney, who was elected by the Liberal Party earlier this month to replace Justin Trudeau following his resignation, called the election for April 28, saying he needs a strong mandate to deal with tariffs issued by the Trump administration and the threat they pose to Canada’s economy. The election was originally set for Oct. 20.
“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 during a news briefing Sunday.
Carney requested that the governor general of Canada, Mary Simon, the representative of the country’s head of state, King Charles, dissolve Parliament and call for an election, adding that she agreed.
“There is so much more to do to secure Canada,” Carney said. “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.”
Canada’s major parties will now begin campaigning as Carney will go head-to-head with the Conservative Party’s Pierre Poilievre, Bloc Québécois’ Yves-François Blanchet and the New Democratic Party’s Jagmeet Singh.
Since becoming president, Trump has threatened sweeping tariffs against Canada, including on dairy and lumber. Trump’s administration imposed 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, rocking financial markets and eliciting $21 billion in retaliatory tariffs from Canada earlier this month. The European Union also issued retaliatory tariffs worth $28 billion on a wide range of U.S. goods, such as boats, motorbikes and alcohol.
Trump has claimed that a primary reason for issuing tariffs against the United States' three largest trading partners — Canada, China and Mexico — is to curb fentanyl. But the fentanyl epidemic has been showing glimmers of improvement, and only about 10 pounds of the drug have been recovered at the Canadian border in the current fiscal year, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
Trump has also suggested several times that Canada should become America’s 51st state, saying it "only works as a state."
"As a state, it would be one of the great states anywhere," Trump said to reporters in the Oval Office this month. "This would be the most incredible country, visually. If you look at a map, they drew an artificial line right through it, between Canada and the U.S. Just a straight, artificial line. Somebody did it a long time ago, many many decades ago. Makes no sense. It’s so perfect as a great and cherished state."
Carney has rejected the comments, calling them “crazy.”
“We will never, ever, in any way, shape or form, be part of the United States,” Carney said earlier this month when he was sworn in as prime minister.
