Mark Carney expected to call federal election on Sunday

CITYnews halifax / By Lucas Casaletto

Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to call a federal election this Sunday.

According to the Canadian Press, Carney will make the final call this weekend, with a snap election slated as early as April 28.

Should that happen, Carney will visit the Governor General and request the dissolution of Parliament. The election campaign lasts for a minimum of 36 days and usually around 40 days.

This will be Canada’s 45th federal election.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies and rhetoric have fuelled a rise in Canadian nationalism, strengthening the Liberals’ prospects.

A recent poll conducted by the Angus Reid Institute shows the federal Liberals have surged to 42 per cent, five points above the Conservatives and leader Pierre Poilievre. Three months ago, the Liberals were polling at a near-all-time low of just 16 per cent.

Carney was sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister on March 14. The opposition Conservatives hoped to make the election about Justin Trudeau, whose popularity declined as food and housing prices rose and immigration surged.

Handling of Trump could be top of mind for voters

Carney met his Cabinet and eliminated a consumer carbon price on his first day, undoing Trudeau’s signature climate policy. He called his government “Canada’s new government” in an effort to distance himself from Trudeau.

“We will never ever, in any way shape or form, be part of the United States,” Carney said. “America is not Canada. We are very fundamentally a different country.”

Carney has said he’s ready to meet with Trump if he shows respect for Canadian sovereignty. This week, he made his first trip abroad, visiting France and the U.K. before stopping in Iqaluit.

Ahead of the expected election call on Sunday, Trump expressed his preference for a Liberal victory under Carney over the opposition Conservatives. However, many political pundits have said it’s believed to be posturing by the current U.S. President, who regularly referred to Trudeau as “Governor Trudeau.”

Trump put 25 per cent tariffs on Canada’s steel and aluminum and threatened sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products on April 2. He has threatened economic coercion in his annexation threats and suggested the border is a fictional line.

The U.S. trade war and Trump’s talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state have infuriated Canadians, who are booing the American anthem at NHL and NBA games.

Canadians could be heading to the polls for a spring election. Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to dissolve government on Sunday, meaning the vote could come as soon as April 28th.