Trump must respect our sovereignty: Canada leaders

New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Conservative opponent Pierre Poilievre said Donald Trump must respect Canada’s sovereignty as both kicked off their election campaigns on Sunday (local time) against the backdrop of a trade war and the US President’s annexation threats.

New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Conservative opponent Pierre Poilievre said Donald Trump must respect Canada’s sovereignty as both kicked off their election campaigns on Sunday (local time) against the backdrop of a trade war and the US President’s annexation threats.

Mr Carney announced a five-week election campaign before a vote on April 28 that is set to revolve largely around the question of how Canada will deal with Mr Trump.

“We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump’s unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty,” Mr Carney said. “President Trump claims that Canada isn’t a real country. He wants to break us so America can own us. We will not let that happen,” he added.

The governing Liberals appeared poised for a historic election defeat this year until Mr Trump declared a trade war. He has repeatedly said Canada should become the 51st US state and has acknowledged he’s up-ended Canadian politics.

Mr Trump’s almost daily attacks on Canada’s sovereignty have infuriated Canadians and led to a surge in nationalism there that has bolstered Liberal poll numbers.

“They want our resources. They want our water. They want our land. They want our country. Never,” Mr Carney said at a rally in Newfoundland.

The election campaign for 343 seats or districts in the House of Commons will last 37 days. Although other parties are running, the Liberals and the Conservatives are the only two that have a chance to form a government.

The party that commands a majority in parliament, either alone or with the support of another party, will form the next government and its leader will be prime minister.

Mr Carney replaced Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January but remained in power until the Liberal Party elected a new leader following a leadership race.

The election will be a race between two very different candidates. Mr Carney is a former Goldman Sachs investment banker who also led the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.

Mr Poilievre, a two-decade veteran MP, is a populist who rode a wave of discontent over Mr Trudeau’s Covid, environmental and immigration policies.

Yet after decades of bilateral stability, the vote is expected to focus on who is best equipped to deal with Mr Trump. Mr Carney said the choice for Canadians was a “Canadian Trump or a government that unites”.

“Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves,” he said in a hockey reference. “In this trade war, just like in hockey, we will win.”

Mr Trump put 25 per cent tariffs on Canada’s steel and aluminium and is threatening sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products – as well as all of America’s trading partners – on April 2.

Mr Poilievre’s Conservative Party was heading for a huge victory in Canada’s election until Mr Trump’s near-daily trade and annexation threats derailed them.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, a conservative ally, said Mr Poilievre 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.

Mr Poilievre said he would stand up to Mr Trump. “I will insist the President recognises the independence and sovereignty of Canada. I will insist he stops tariffing our nation,” he said as he launched his campaign.

“I know a lot of people are worried, angry and anxious. And with good reason as a result of the President’s unacceptable threats against our country,” he said.

“The question is whether Canadians can afford a fourth Liberal term,” he said, blaming the party for feeble growth, elevated housing costs, damaging a once-admired immigration system, and thwarting projects in the country’s resource sector. The Liberals’ “radical, post-national globalist ideology has weakened our ­nation”, he added.

Mr Carney has tried to tar Mr Poilievre as “a person who worships at the altar of Donald Trump”. Scott Reid, a one-time strategist to former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin, said Mr Carney had so far successfully ­distanced himself from Mr ­Trudeau, and that gave the Lib­erals a chance to complete a ­historical political comeback.

“The eye test tells you that Carney is a completely different creature, probably with very different instincts and priorities than Trudeau,” he said.

Mr Carney still hasn’t had a phone call with Mr Trump and that might not happen now until after the election. Mr Trump had mocked Mr Trudeau by calling him a governor, but he has not yet mentioned Mr Carney’s name.

The Wall Street Journal