Canada's prime minister and his opponent kick off election saying Trump
must respect sovereignty
[March 24, 2025]
By ROB GILLIES
TORONTO (AP) — New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his
Conservative opponent said U.S. President Donald Trump must respect
Canada’s sovereignty as they kicked off their election campaigns Sunday
against the backdrop of a trade war and Trump's annexation threats.
Carney announced a five-week election campaign before the vote on April
28.
“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.
“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 Trump declared a trade war. He has repeatedly said
Canada should become the 51st U.S. state and has acknowledged he's
upended Canadian politics.
Trump’s almost daily attacks on Canada’s sovereignty have infuriated
Canadians and led to a surge in Canadian nationalism that has bolstered
Liberal poll numbers.
“They want our resources. They want our water. They want our land. They
want our country. Never,” 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.
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 opposition Conservatives hoped to make the election about Trudeau,
whose popularity declined as food and housing prices rose and
immigration surged. But after decades of bilateral stability, the vote
is now expected to focus on who is best equipped to deal with Trump.
Carney said the choice for Canadians is a “Canadian Trump or a
government that unites.”
“Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves,” Carney
said in a hockey reference. “In this trade war, just like in hockey, we
will win.”
Trump put 25% tariffs on Canada’s steel and aluminum and is threatening
sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products — as well as all of America’s
trading partners — on April 2.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is Carney’s main challenger. The
party and Poilievre were heading for a huge victory in Canada’s election
until Trump’s near-daily trade and annexation threats derailed them.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to media at Rideau Hall, where he
asked the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and call an
election, in Ottawa, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (Adrian Wyld /The
Canadian Press via AP)
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, a conservative ally, said 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.
Poilievre said he will stand up to Trump.
“I will insist the president recognizes 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," Poilievre said.
Carney still hasn’t had a phone call with Trump and that might not
happen now until after the election. Trump mocked Trudeau by calling
him governor, but he has not yet mentioned Carney’s name.
"Trump must recognize that Canada is a sovereign country," Carney
said. "He has to say that, he has to accept that, before we can have
a discussion about a trade agreement. ... Let's just say there is no
meeting that has been planned.”
Carney, 60, was the head of the Bank of Canada during the 2008
financial crisis. In 2013, he became the first noncitizen of the
United Kingdom to run the Bank of England, helping to manage the
impact of Brexit.
Carney, a political novice, said Canadians want change and he's
moved the Liberal Party to the right, announcing a middle-class tax
cut Sunday and scrapping Trudeau’s signature carbon tax and
reversing a capital gains tax increase.
Poilievre, 45, for years the party’s go-to attack dog, is a career
politician and firebrand populist who says he will put “Canada
first.” Elon Musk, who is playing an integral role in the Trump
administration, has endorsed and praised him.
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