‘He wants to break us’: Canada’s newbie PM calls snap election as Trump looms large

Washington: Canadians will go to the polls at the end of April in an election that will be as much about another country as it is their own.

The shadow of Donald Trump hangs over the five-week campaign in an election that is suddenly competitive again thanks to the US president’s taunts and tariffs and the exit of former prime minister Justin Trudeau, whose star had faded into liability.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the election during a news conference in Ottawa.Credit: Bloomberg

His successor as Liberal Party leader and prime minister, Mark Carney, is simultaneously peak establishment – an investment banker who ran the central banks of both Canada and Britain – and a political outsider, having never held a seat in parliament.

On Sunday, his 10th day in the job, Carney attended a morning church service in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, and then visited the governor-general at Rideau Hall to seek an election on April 28.

At a press conference, he touted the action he had taken in his first nine days, including “a new agreement on national defence with Australia”. That referred to Canada’s interest in buying Australian radar technology in a deal worth about $6.5 billion.

Working with “reliable partners” to strengthen Canada’s economy and security was vital, Carney said, given the upheaval in Washington.

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

“He wants to break us, so America can own us. We will not let that happen.

“We’re over the shock of the betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons. We have to look out for ourselves; we have to look out for each other. We are masters in our own home.”

Carney announced his intention to reduce the country’s lowest income tax bracket from 15 per cent to 14 per cent, a move he said would save a two-income family up to $C825 ($917) a year.

A visitor to Washington wears a Donald Trump mask in front of a Canadian flag in outside the White House this month.Credit: AP

There would also be significant announcements aimed at increasing housing supply, he said. Like Australia, Canada is grappling with a housing affordability crisis and has put caps on foreign students and temporary workers, which Carney said would remain in place until housing caught up.

But it’s the question of who can best stand up to Trump and defend Canada’s interests that may decide the election.

Both sides have embraced a Canadian version of patriotism, with Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre standing at podiums saying “Canada First” and desperate to shake accusations he’s a mini-Trump.

“Let me be clear, we will never be an American state; we will always be a sovereign and self-reliant country,” Poilievre said in a speech as the election was called.

“The action we must take is to become that nation that’s strong, self-reliant and sovereign, capable of standing on its own two feet and standing up to the Americans. We will stare down this unprovoked threat with steely resolve.”

Carney, meanwhile, rolled out a TV advertisement in which he tests Canadian actor and comedian Mike Myers – who lives in the United States – on his Canadian bona fides. At the end of the ad, the back of Myers’ hockey jersey shows the word “Never” – a rejection of Trump’s insistence that Canada should become the 51st US state.

Only a few months ago, the election looked to be a slam dunk for the Conservatives, which have been out of power since Trudeau’s 2015 victory. After nearly a decade, the Liberals were severely on the nose. Amid a cabinet exodus, Trudeau prorogued the parliament and pledged to resign.

But the political landscape has changed dramatically. The Liberals have a new leader with the kind of business pedigree that seems useful for handling Trump. And the party’s portrayal of Poilievre as “maple syrup MAGA” appears to resonate with voters.

According to Canadian public broadcaster CBC’s aggregate poll tracker, the major parties are in effect neck and neck, and if an election were held today, the Liberals would probably win just enough seats to form a majority government.

Trump claims to be agnostic about the outcome. “I think it’s easier to deal, actually, with a Liberal. I don’t really care; it doesn’t matter to me at all,” he told Fox News last week. Poilievre, he said, was “stupidly no friend of mine”, noting the Conservative leader had criticised him.

With no seat in parliament and no mandate, Carney had little choice but to ride the momentum and call an election.

Both leaders talk the talk on Trump; their task now is to convince voters they can walk the walk.

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