Ottawa/CMEDIA: Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney reportedly has called the 2025 snap federal election, six months ahead of the fixed date leading the country into an early campaign.
Carney visited Gov. Gen. Mary Simon Sunday to ask her to issue the writs of election.
With 343 seats up for grabs after the last electoral district redistribution, Canada’s MPs and the candidates will not be returning to Parliament on March 24 as scheduled.
“We’ve done a lot…to put in place many of the foundations…the government has a mandate from the Canadian people to finish the job…Canadian economy…diversifying our trading partners, and to have a strong mandate to stand up to (U.S. President) Donald Trump and the Americans and negotiate the best deal for Canadians,” Carney was reported to say from outside Rideau Hall Sunday.
Following a five-week campaign, the shortest possible campaign period allowed under Canadian law, Canadians will head to the polls April 28.
After a two-month race to replace Canada’s former prime minister Justin Trudeau, Carney was selected by the Liberals as leader on March 9
Not having a seat in the House of Commons, the former central banker, Carney would not be able to participate in the chamber and motivated him to trigger a snap vote rather than try to navigate an already unstable minority government from the sidelines.
Carney would reportedly run for a seat in the nation’s capital, announced by the Liberal party, and is seeking his first ever seat in the House of Commons in the riding of Nepean.
Carney confirmed the news in an online past and said that he was “honoured” to seek election in that constituency.
In his speech outside Rideau Hall Sunday, Carney said that he is following through on Liberal leadership campaign promises of the last week and that he now needs a mandate from Canadians to continue making progress
Carney pledged to scrap the consumer carbon tax and the capital gains inclusion rate increase, to work to eliminate interprovincial trade barriers.
He also added if he wins the election, he would eliminate the GST for some first-time homebuyers and implement a middle-class tax cut, which would enable dual-income families to save up to $825 a year.
This election — the first in 12 years without Trudeau — will get underway amid unpredictability about what the American administration might do next and when Canada’s relationship with the United States is being severely tested.
After taking office, the two-time central banker, Carney made it clear it was important at a moment like this for Canadians to have their say about the path ahead and who should be leading the way.
Having hit Canada with 25 percent import tariffs on non-trade-exempt goods, Trump followed it up with further levies on steel and aluminum. In return Canada has hit back with reciprocal countermeasures, targeting $60 billion worth of U.S. products.
“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…Trump claims that Canada isn’t a real country…wants to break us so America can own us,” said Carney.
