Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Gov. Gen. Mary Simon on March 23 and asked for the dissolution of Parliament, triggering a snap federal election for April 28.
Carney announced the election the day before Parliament was scheduled to be recalled after being prorogued on Jan. 6 by his predecessor Justin Trudeau.
If proceedings in the House of Commons had resumed, the minority Liberal government could have faced a non-confidence vote, which would also have led to an early election.
Carney, who was sworn in as prime minister on March 14 after winning the Liberal leadership race, is going into the election at a time when the Liberals have had a significant rebound in the polls.
Since Trudeau announced he would resign at the beginning of the year, and with the trade tensions with the United States heating up, the Liberals have closed the 20-point gap in voters’ intentions with the Conservatives.
Over a year and a half of faring poorly in the polls, coupled with key byelection losses last year, had indicated that the Liberals would face certain electoral defeat. Now, however, the race is projected to be tight.
A Nanos poll published on March 20 puts support for the Conservatives at 35 percent and support for the Liberals at 34 percent. Support for the NDP is at 16 percent. Some other polls show the Liberals to be leading.
The poll says the NDP has fallen to 9 percent in decided voters’ intentions, while support for the Bloc Québécois has also dropped in Quebec with the resurgence of the Liberals.
The key election topics are expected to be about how to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, and how to strengthen the economy in the face of steep U.S. tariffs and Canadian counter-tariffs.
Trump has imposed two sets of levies on Canada so far, including 25 percent tariffs with a 30-day carveout for goods compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The administration will implement additional, reciprocal levies on all countries on April 2.
Pre-Campaign Announcements
Carney and Poilievre have made several pre-campaign announcements in recent days, seeking to position themselves as the best-suited leader to steer Canada’s economy through turbulent waters.Carney said he would cancel the Liberal plan to increase the capital gains tax inclusion rate, and remove the GST on the sale of new homes, similar to a promise the Conservatives had previously made.
Carney has also promised to beef up Arctic security, work with premiers to develop a national trade and energy corridor and streamline projects, and remove all federal barriers to internal trade. He also announced some measures for tariff relief, such as waiving the waiting period for employment insurance, and said the dental-care program will soon be expanded to include more Canadians. On March 23, he said he would cut 1 percent of the lowest income tax bracket.
Poilievre has made a series of announcements related to speeding up the development of major projects by issuing federal permits in a more timely manner and creating pre-permitted zones. As well, he has promised to streamline permits for the development of natural resources in Northern Ontario’s “Ring of Fire” region.
The Conservative leader also announced initiatives that would support working Canadians, including funding for apprenticeship programs and enabling workers to be employed all across the country. He has said he would cut taxes and “unleash our resource production,” and put the focus on making Canada competitive compared to the United States.
During the campaign, a topic of contention between the Liberals and Conservatives will be net-zero emissions policies and how they tie into Canada’s economic prosperity.
Carney suspended the carbon tax for consumers and small businesses on March 14, but has pledged to strengthen the regime for large industrial emitters to compensate. He has also said he will keep the emissions cap for the oil and gas sector, which Alberta objects to, saying it acts as a limit to production.
Poilievre, who has long campaigned on getting rid of the carbon tax, has said he would additionally remove the carbon tax on industry to reduce costs for Canadians and boost economic growth.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, meanwhile, is accusing both the Liberals and Conservatives of looking after the interests of big corporations, saying his party is the one supporting everyday Canadians.
The party says that it was due to their arrangement under the supply-and-confidence agreement that the government brought in the dental-care and pharmacare programs, and has criticized Carney for removing the expansion of the capital gains tax, saying the move will benefit the rich.
