New Canadian Prime Minister Carney writes elections before April 28

The new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has issued parliamentary elections on Sunday before April 28. Canadians then choose those who have to defend the interests of the country in the coming years against continuous attacks by US President Donald Trump.

« We are confronted with the greatest crisis of our lives, because of the unjustified commercial actions of President Trump and his threat to our sovereignty, » said Carney in the Canadian capital Ottawa, after a visit to Governor-General Mary Simon, the deputy of Canadian State Careles. She gave formal permission to dissolve the parliament. « We have to respond by building a strong economy and better secured Canada. »

Although elections had to be held by October at the latest, there is a consensus that there must be a government with a strong mandate to compete against Trump. The US president has unleashed a trade war with Canada, one of the largest trading partners in the US. This is expected to lead to a recession in the Northern neighbor, which delivers approximately 78 percent of its exports to the US.

Moreover, Trump repeats that Canada should, in his opinion, become a ’51st state’ of the US, to anger of a large majority of the Canadian population. According to many, the country is struggling with an existential threat due to Trumps second presidential period.

Little political experience

The 60-year-old Carney, a former president of the Canadian Central Bank and of the British Central Bank, throws himself up as a skilled leader with economic expertise, who can guide the country through the storm. Although he has little political experience, he was elected leader as a successor to former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this month. At the beginning of January, Trudeau announced his departure after more than nine years in power, due to the popularity.

The threats of Trump and the departure of Trudeau have thoroughly shaken the political landscape in Canada. Until the beginning of this year, the oppositional conservatives led by the young populist Pierre Poilievre had a large lead in the polls for a year and a half. It was expected that they would book a monster victory during a campaign against Trudeau. According to polls, the liberals ran the risk of being wiped out electorally.

But because of their leadership change, the liberals have experienced a remarkable resurrection in the polls in recent weeks: they now have a slight lead over the conservatives. Many Canadian voters seem to doubt whether the 45-year-old Poilievre, a tough political attacker with Trumpian traits, is the right person to take on Trump as a prime minister. He must defend himself against reproaches that Trump is well under part of his supporters.

The threats of Trump and the departure of Trudeau have thoroughly shaken the political landscape in Canada

Since his sworn as Prime Minister on March 14, Carney has not yet spoken to Trump. He takes a hard position against the threats of the president, with which he responds to a strongly flourished feeling of nationalism in Canada. « President Trump claims that Canada is not a real country, » he said on Sunday. « He wants to break us so that Americans can possess us. We don’t let that happen. We are over the shock of the betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons. »

Inadequate French

How Carney will perform in an election campaign against experienced politicians will have to be seen in the coming five weeks. One of his handicaps is that he speaks poor French, but will have to take on Poilievre and Yves-François Blanchet, leader of the separatist Bloc Québécois during a French-speaking debate. In addition, the Social -Democratic NDP and the Greens also come along as smaller parties.

Poilievre paints Carney as an elitist banker with little feeling of the worries of Canadians, such as inflation and the costs of living. According to him, the liberals try to get a fourth consecutive mandate through a trick. Poilievre distances from suggestions that Canada should join the US. « I will insist that the president (Trump) recognizes the independence and sovereignty of Canada, » he said on Sunday. « I will demand that he will stop imposing rates on our country. »

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