The News
New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is likely to call a snap election for April 28 as soon as this weekend, according to multiple media reports.
Carney’s request to dissolve parliament, reported by The Globe and Mail and The Associated Press, comes just days after the former central banker won the race to lead the country’s Liberal Party and replace former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The election will “almost certain to focus on US President Donald Trump’s trade war and his talk of making Canada the 51st state,” The Globe and Mail wrote: That’s likely to benefit the Liberals, which had floundered in the polls until Trump returned to power and repeatedly taunted Ottawa; the opposition Conservatives — whose leader has been seen as Trump-aligned — had hoped to make the election about Trudeau’s record.
Carney has yet to speak to Trump, but said he’s ready to meet if the president shows respect for Canadian sovereignty.