BREAKING: PM Carney calls snap election for April 28

Mark Carney called a snap election Sunday, amid tense relations with the US. “Canadians are going to decide who their next government is going to be,” he told reporters Friday. 

The Prime Minister requested the Governor General to dissolve Parliament at 12:30 pm EST today, starting a 37-day campaign.

Sources previously told CBC News the election would be held on April 28, which the Liberal leader confirmed from Rideau Hall.

“I trust Canadians to make those decisions. We’ll have, I’m sure, a robust election campaign and Canadians will make the choice,” he added. “No foreign leader is going to determine who’s best.”

Carney’s comments follow supposed backing from Trump, who said he would prefer another Liberal government in Canada. 

“I don’t care who wins up there. I, frankly, probably would do better with the Liberal than with the Conservative, if you want to know the truth,” he said from the Oval Office Friday.

Trump, at the time, continued to justify the trade war with Canada that is expected to serve as the ballot question this go around. Meanwhile, Carney met with the premiers for the first time on Friday to discuss tariff response.

President Trump's threat of reciprocal tariffs is coming April 2. How Canada maneuvers the trade war is widely expected to be the ballot question.

Carney has quickly fulfilled campaign pledges by eliminating the consumer carbon tax and capital gains inclusion rate increase. If re-elected, he plans to remove GST for some first-time homebuyers, which the Conservatives first promised.

"I can't even believe he would have the audacity to show up in Edmonton": Poilievre slams Carney for suddenly pretending to change his "radical, net-zero, keep-it-in-the-ground ideology" on oil. pic.twitter.com/HcXms2dw9q

Carney will run in the Ottawa riding of Nepean, which neighbours Poilievre’s riding.

Conservatives argue that Carney's decision to maintain the planned cap on greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector makes him a continuation of the Trudeau Liberal government.

“Despite the fact that they’re trying to put on this mask last-minute before the election, make no mistake: a fourth Liberal term will be exactly like the previous three,” Poilievre said at a news conference in suburban Ottawa.

Poilievre suggested that Canadians must choose between a Liberal government that weakens the country and leaves it vulnerable to the U.S., or his party.

Carney says his industrial carbon tax is crucial to Canada's economy because a "requirement" to trade with the UK, EU and Asia is to have a "price on carbon." pic.twitter.com/SaOQNJqDHS

Despite nearly two years of a Conservative double-digit lead in public opinion polling, the Liberals started to gain ground two months ago, with some stating they have pulled slightly ahead. 

CBC's Poll Tracker shows the Liberals at 37.8% support and the Conservatives at 37.2%. It went as far as saying a vote today could give the Liberals a slim majority of 176 seats, with Conservatives at 133.

This election is the first in 12 years without Trudeau at the helm of the Liberals.

The Liberals selected Carney as leader on March 9, after former prime minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation on January 6.

Alex Dhaliwal

Journalist and Writer

Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.

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