Against the backdrop of a trade war with the US and President Trump's talk of a takeover, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday called a snap election. Carney, who was elected by the Liberal Party earlier this month, wants the election to be held on April 28 instead of the original Oct. 20, NBC News reports. He argued that he needs a quick mandate to deal with those pressing issues. "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 in a news briefing.
The earlier date could help the Liberals take advantage of their resurgence since Trump took office, per the Washington Post. Carney said that he had asked Mary Simon, the governor general, to dissolve Parliament and call for an election and that she agreed. That allows for a 37-day election campaign, the legal minimum, which Carney and Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre began Sunday, per the AP. The election result could depend on the candidates' ability to convince voters that they're best suited to resist Trump's plans. Although Poilievre said he will stand up to Trump, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, an ally, said in an interview that the Conservative leader would be "very much in sync" with the "new direction in America."
"The content of this interview is very bad news for the Conservatives because it reinforces the Liberals' narrative about Pierre Poilievre and his perceived ideological proximity with Donald Trump," said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal. The opposition party wants to focus on the record of Justin Trudeau, whom Carney replaced. Lori Turnbull of Dalhousie University suggested the Conservatives have to adjust to Trump's moves, per the Post. "They need to pivot big time because the question isn't Trudeau anymore," Turnbull said. (More Canada stories.)
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