Canadian PM Mark Carney Calls for Snap Election in Bid For Mandate to Take on Trump Trade War

Canada’s recently installed Prime Minister Mark Carney called on Sunday for a snap election to be held at the end of next month as he seeks to gain an election mandate to challenge U.S. President Donald Trump in the trade war.

While an election did not need to be held until October 20th, Prime Minster Mark Carney called for a vote on April 28th in an apparent attempt to capitalise on his party’s resurgence in the polls amid the war of words and trade battle with the United States, with President Trump frequently joking about Canada becoming the 51st state and his administration imposing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium imports and further plans for “reciprocal” tariffs to be imposed on April 2nd.

“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 per Reuters.

“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.”

Earlier this month, Carney became the first person to become Canadian prime minister without ever having been elected to any office earlier this month after Justin Trudeau’s resignation sparked a leadership contest in the governing Liberal Party.

As a former head of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, as well as Trudeau’s former economic advisor, Carney has attempted to cast himself as a steady hand to lead the country out of the downward financial spiral of the Trudeau years. However, the globalist politician has also taken a hard line in the trade dispute with the Trump administration, which may further imperil the Canadian economy.

While the opposition Conservative Party had enjoyed a commanding lead in the polls during the waning months of the Trudeau premiership, the Liberals have since rebounded amid the conflict with Trump, during which they have cast Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre as being aligned with the U.S. President.

A poll from Angus Reid released earlier this week put the Liberals at 42 per cent and the Conservatives at 37 per cent. Another survey from Leger for the National Post also found the Liberals to have 42 per cent support among voters, compared to 39 per cent for the Conservatives.

Although Poilievre shares many policy positions with President Trump, he has also taken a hard line on trade talks, casting the tariffs as an unprovoked “betrayal”, potentially undermining his ability to differentiate his party from the Liberals. Instead, the Conservative leader has sought to draw a distinction on issues such as energy, accusing Carney of being “sneaky” about his true intentions surrounding the green agenda and climate-related taxes.

Like Trudeau before him, Carney has long been one of the leading advocates for radical green policies, having previously served as United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance until stepping down to run for prime minister. Carney was also instrumental in the attempt to pressure private firms throughout the Western world into adopting climate targets during his time at the helm of the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA).

In his opening pitch to voters on Sunday, Poilievre said: “After the lost Liberal decade, the question is whether Canadians can afford a fourth Liberal term. These out of touch Liberals inflated housing costs, drove up the cost of food, pushed two million people to food banks, unleashed crime on our streets, ruined our immigration system, blocked our resources, sent a half a trillion dollars to the United States and made our economy more reliant on the Americans than ever before.

“Or, is it time to put Canada first for a change with a new Conservative government that will axe taxes, honour hard work, build homes, cut taxes, lock up criminals, secure our borders, unleash resources to bring home our jobs, and stand up to Donald Trump from a position of strength.”

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