New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has called a snap election for April 28, saying he needed a strong mandate to deal with the threat posed by US President Donald Trump, who "wants to break us so America can own us."
The comments showed the extent to which relations between the US and Canada, two long-time allies and major trading partners, have deteriorated since Trump imposed tariffs on Canada and threatened to annex it as the 51st state.
Although the next election was not due until October 20, Carney is hoping to capitalise on a remarkable recovery by his Liberal Party in the polls since January, when Trump began threatening Canada and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation.
Upon being sworn in as prime minister on March 14, Carney had said he could work with and that he respected Trump. On Sunday, however, he took a more combative approach.
"We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump's unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty," Carney told reporters after the Governor General - the personal representative of King Charles, Canada's head of state - approved his request for an election.
"Our response must be to build a strong economy and a more secure Canada. President Trump claims that Canada isn't a real country. He wants to break us so America can own us. We will not let that happen."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Carney's remarks.
Trump on March 6 delayed a broad 25% tariff on some Canadian goods for 30 days. He has since imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium imports and threatened reciprocal tariffs on additional goods, including Canadian dairy and lumber, on April 2.
"The polling suggests that the number one concern that Canadians have right now is the potential negative fallout of Donald Trump and the threatened tariffs," said Nik Nanos, chief data scientist and founder of pollster Nanos Research.
Carney is "probably setting the groundwork for something a little more strident on April 2nd," Nanos said.
Carney, a former Governor of the Bank of England with no previous political or election campaign experience, captured the Liberal leadership two weeks ago by persuading party members he was the best person to tackle Trump.
Now he has five weeks to win over Canadians.
