Mark Carney warns Canadians in Liberal Party victory speech: 'Trump is
trying to break us'
[April 29, 2025]
By ROB GILLIES
TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party won Canada’s
federal election on Monday, capping a stunning turnaround in fortunes
fueled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s annexation threats and trade
war.
After polls closed, the Liberals were projected to win more of
Parliament’s 343 seats than the Conservatives. It wasn’t immediately
clear, though, if they would win an outright majority — at least 172 —
or would need to rely on one of the smaller parties to pass legislation.
The Liberals looked headed for a crushing defeat until the American
president started attacking Canada’s economy and threatening its
sovereignty, suggesting it should become the 51st state. Trump’s actions
infuriated Canadians and stoked a surge in nationalism that helped the
Liberals flip the election narrative and win a fourth-straight term in
power.
In a victory speech before supporters in Ottawa, Carney stressed the
importance of Canadian unity in the face of Washington's threats. He
also said the mutually beneficial system Canada and the U.S. had shared
since World War II had ended.
“We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never
forget the lessons,” he said.
“As I've been warning for months, America wants our land, our resources,
our water, our country," Carney said. "These are not idle threats.
President Trump is trying to break us so America can own us. That will
never ... ever happen. But we also must recognize the reality that our
world has fundamentally changed.”
A defeat for the Conservatives
The Conservative Party's leader, Pierre Poilievre, hoped to make the
election a referendum on former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose
popularity declined toward the end of his decade in power as food and
housing prices rose.
But Trump attacked, Trudeau resigned and Carney, a two-time central
banker, became the Liberal Party’s leader and prime minister.
In a concession speech and with his own House of Commons seat still in
doubt, Poilievre vowed to keep fighting for Canadians.
“We are cognizant of the fact that we didn't get over the finish line
yet," Poilievre told supporters in Ottawa. "We know that change is
needed, but change is hard to come by. It takes time. It takes work. And
that's why we have to learn the lessons of tonight — so that we can have
an even better result the next time Canadians decide the future of the
country.”
Even with Canadians grappling with the fallout from a deadly weekend
attack at a Vancouver street festival, Trump was trolling them on
election day, suggesting again on social media that Canada should become
the 51st state and saying he was on their ballot. He also erroneously
claimed that the U.S. subsidizes Canada, writing, “It makes no sense
unless Canada is a State!”
Trump’s truculence has infuriated Canadians, leading many to cancel U.S.
vacations, refuse to buy American goods and possibly even vote early. A
record 7.3 million Canadians cast ballots before election day.
As Poilievre and his wife cast their ballots in Ottawa, he implored
voters to “Get out to vote — for a change." After running a Trump-lite
campaign for weeks, though, the Conservative leader's similarities to
the bombastic American might have cost him.
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to supporters on stage at
his campaign headquarters after the Liberal Party won the Canadian
election in Ottawa, Ontario, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Justin
Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Reid Warren, a Toronto resident, said he voted Liberal because
Poilievre “sounds like mini-Trump to me.” And he said Trump’s
tariffs are a worry.
“Canadians coming together from, you know, all the shade being
thrown from the States is great, but it’s definitely created some
turmoil, that’s for sure,” he said.
Historian Robert Bothwell said Poilievre appealed to the “same sense
of grievance” as Trump, but that it ultimately worked against him.
“The Liberals ought to pay him," Bothwell said, referring to the
U.S. president. "Trump talking is not good for the Conservatives.”
The Liberal way forward
Carney and the Liberals secured a new term, but they have daunting
challenges ahead.
If they don't win a majority in Parliament, the Liberals might need
rely on one of the smaller parties to remain in power and pass
legislation. The Bloc Québécois, which looked set to finish third,
is a separatist party from French-speaking Quebec that seeks
independence from Canada. Trudeau’s Liberals relied on the New
Democrats to remain in power for four years, but the progressive
party faired poorly on Monday and its leader, Jagmeet Singh, said he
was stepping down after eight years in charge.
“This is a dramatic comeback, but if the Liberals cannot win a
majority of seats, political uncertainty in a new minority
Parliament could complicate things for them,” said McGill University
political science professor Daniel Béland.
Until this year, foreign policy hadn’t dominated a Canadian election
this much since 1988, when, ironically, free trade with the United
States was the prevailing issue.
In addition to the trade war with the U.S. and frosty relationship
with Trump, Canada is dealing with a cost-of-living crisis. And more
than 75% of its exports go to the U.S., so Trump's tariffs threat
and his desire to get North American automakers to move Canada's
production south could severely damage the Canadian economy.
While campaigning, Carney vowed that every dollar the the government
collects from counter-tariffs on U.S. goods will go toward Canadian
workers who are adversely affected by the trade war. He also said he
plans to keep dental care in place, offer a middle-class tax cut,
return immigration to sustainable levels and increase funding to
Canada's public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
___
Associated Press reporter Mike Householder contributed to this
report.
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