Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced that his country will hold a general election on April 28.
Carney, the former Bank of England chief who replaced outgoing Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau just days ago, made the widely-expected announcement on Sunday afternoon UK time - and took a series of swipes at Donald Trump in the process.
He accused the US President of slapping Canada with "unjustified trade actions" through his tariffs and "threatening our sovereignty" through his claims that the former British colony was "not a real country".
"We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump's unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty... He wants to break us so America can own us," Carney said.
"We cannot let that happen... We're over the shock of the betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons. We need to look after ourselves," he vowed.
'We're over the shock of the betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons. We need to look after ourselves,' Carney vowed
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Following his address in capital city Ottawa, Carney said on social media: "We need to build the strongest economy in the G7. We need to deal with President Trump's tariffs. Canadians deserve a choice about who should lead that effort for our country."
Canada had been slated to hold its next election on October 20 - but in light of Trump's verbal attacks on his northern neighbour, Carney's Liberals have skyrocketed in the polls.
"I'm asking for a strong positive mandate from my fellow Canadians," he said today.
"I've just requested that the Governor General [Mary Simon] dissolve Parliament and call an election for April 28, and she has agreed," he said after Simon - who acts as King Charles III's representative in the Commonwealth Realm - approved his request.
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Trudeau and Carney's Liberals have surged in popularity since Donald Trump returned to the White House
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He will go head-to-head with Canada's Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, whose sizeable early-2025 poll lead has effectively been wiped out following Trump's return to power.
Pollsters have said the same - Ipsos Public Affairs CEO Darrell Bricker said: "The ability of the Conservatives to attack the Liberals has been greatly diminished, because people are focused on the here and now and the near term future, not on what happened over the last 10 years."
"We moved from an election where people wanted change to an election that's really much more about leadership," he added.
Carney will go head-to-head with Canada's Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre
REUTERSAfter succeeding Trudeau as Prime Minister, Carney had laid into Poilievre, telling crowds the Tory leader "is the type of lifelong politician... who worships at the altar of the free market despite never having made a payroll himself".
Poilievre has contested seven elections in his political career, and unlike Carney, can speak perfect French.
Despite both candidates looking to win the support of Francophone province Quebec, Carney suffered a humiliating press conference faux-pas last week.
When asked to respond in French, Carney initially misunderstood the question - and then answered in English.
