Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney calls snap election, seeks mandate on Trump tariffs

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called Sunday for a snap election that he said would allow the people of Canada to decide who should tackle the country's economic challenges, especially in light of President Donald Trump's tariffs against the northern U.S. neighbor.

"We need to build the strongest economy in the G7. We need to deal with President Trump’s tariffs," Carney posted on X Sunday. "Canadians deserve a choice about who should lead that effort for our country."

Carney has asked for the election to be set for April 28.

The move comes just nine days after Carney took office as Canada's top leader, following former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcement in January that he planned to resign. Trudeau's Liberal Party selected Carney, a Harvard grad and former governor for both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, as its new leader March 9.

Trump threats loom over election

Carney's rise to his country's highest political office has coincided with sharp tensions between the U.S. and Canada.

Trump has called for Canada to become the 51st U.S. state and said earlier this month he planned to put 25% tariffs on Canadian imports. Trump reversed course on the tariff threat March 11 amidst Trudeau's pledge to retaliate and a plunging stock market.

The U.S. president has imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and threatened reciprocal tariffs on additional goods, including Canadian dairy and lumber, on April 2.

Canada “never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape, or form,” Carney said in his first speech after being chosen to lead his party March 9. People “are worried about Canada’s future, in the face of President Trump’s threats and a more divided and dangerous world."

Pierre Poilievre: Conservative leader and Carney's competition

Carney will face off in the election against Pierre Poilievre, who leads Canada's Conservative Party.

Poilievre has been involved in Canadian politics for nearly all of his adult life. He became one of the youngest elected Canadian Conservatives of all time when he won a seat in 2004 in Canada's capital city, Ottawa, at the age of 25, according tothe BBC.

A poll by Canadian pollster Angus Reid before Trudeau's January resignation announcement indicated Poilievre would beat any of then-major candidates to run the Liberal Party, including Carney. However, Carney's party has improved in the polls since he came to power, and an Angus Reid poll conducted March 13-17 had the Liberals leading the Conservatives 42% to 37%.

Before Trudeau's resignation announcement, Trump suggested that a win for Poilievre in the next Canadian general election would bring the U.S. and Canada more in sync.

"It would be very good. Our views would be more aligned, certainly," Trump said on Hugh Hewitt's radio show Jan. 6.

However, in a speech Sunday following Carney's snap election announcement, Poilievre sought to distance himself from the U.S. president.

"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 at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec.

"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," he added.