Prime Minister Mark Carney approached Gov. Gen. Mary Simon Sunday morning to dissolve Parliament and trigger an election.
Federal parties will undergo a five-week campaign before Canadians head to the polls on April 28. Carney will run against Conservative Barbara Bal for the Nepean, ON seat, which is located on the Ottawa River.
"I'm asking for a strong, positive mandate from my fellow Canadians," said Carney after meeting with Simon.
"I've just requested that the governor general dissolve parliament and call an election for April 28. She has agreed."
"We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump's unjustified trade, actions, and his threats to our sovereignty. Our response must be to build a strong economy and a more secure, Canada."
Tory leader Pierre Poilievre while Carney was meeting with the governor general inside Rideau Hall held a press conference to officially launch the Conservative campaign.
He called on Canadians to vote in favour of a change, and redeem the "lost Liberal decade."
Carney and Poilievre will run against Yves-François Blanchet and the Bloc Québécois, Jagmeet Singh and the New Democrats, Elizabeth May and the Greens and Maxime Bernier and the People's Party of Canada.
“We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump's unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty,” said Carney.
“Our response must be to build a strong economy and a more secure Canada.”
“We cannot control the US president, but we can control our own destiny. We are masters in our own home. We can control our destiny.”
Carney promised his government will cut the middle-class tax bracket by one percentage point
A reporter asked Carney why he was “throwing the country into an election in the middle of a tariff war” and why not delay “so Canadians can really test drive you to see if you represent the change you claim to represent?”
Carney responded his government has had a strong first nine days, including announcing tax cuts, using “revenues from retaliatory tariffs to protect workers” and changes to the EI system — all ideas previously put forward by the Conservatives.
Carney was asked about his approach to immigration, after appointing BlackRock chair and World Economic Forum representative Mark Wiseman. Wiseman co-founded the Century Initiative, which would pump up Canada’s population to 100 million by 2100.
“Post-COVID, there was a surge in immigration, workers, foreign students, as well as permanent immigration. And we have not lived up to the bargain with those people,” said Carney.
“There's not adequate housing. Not everyone who came here for an education was getting an education that they would expect, and a consequence of that, there are many other aspects, but the consequence of that is the new caps have been put in place on much lower levels of immigration, including temporary foreign workers, including foreign students.”
“And those caps, or something similar to those levels, in my judgment, need to remain in place.”
“And now we've expanded housing, we've reabsorbed the levels of immigration that have happened in our country. And so there's not a predetermined point where one would remove or adjust those caps.”
Another reporter pointed out reports that Carney is a practicing Catholic, and asked if his faith would threaten a woman’s right to have an abortion in Canada.
“I wouldn't have drawn attention to the fact I went to church, but thank you for noting that,” said Carney.
“I absolutely support a woman's right to choose unreservedly, and we'll defend it as the Liberal party has defended it proudly and consistently.”
Carney was selected by about 150,000 members of the Liberal party aged 14 years and older on March 9, beating former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in a landslide victory. Carney scored more than 85% of the vote, while Freeland only secured about 8%.
Rather than call a snap election at that time, the former prime minister prorogued Parliament for seven weeks, expressly stating the strategy was to give the Liberals a chance to select a new leader.
The Liberals were tanking in the polls under the leadership of Justin Trudeau, who announced his intent to resign on January 6. Polling now suggests the Liberals are gaining ground again, with some pollsters showing the Grits taking a lead. Other polls demonstrate the Tories still have a fair lead.
Carney has so far refused to submit his financial holdings for ethics checks, despite a constant stream of evidence that indicates multiple conflicts of interest. Legally, Carney is not compelled to publicize his assets until four months after an election (should he win), a policy Tory leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to amend to ensure transparency from elected officials.
The week prior to Carney's election announcement, President Donald Trump said in an interview he find the Liberals "easier" to deal with than Poilievre's Conservatives and would prefer if the Grits won the next election.
