OTTAWA — Canada's 45th general election got underway Sunday, with the leaders vying to become Canada's next prime minister each positioning themselves as best to strengthen Canada's economy and stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump.
Patriotism loomed large as leaders hit the road, with Canadian flags and talk of national pride.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney triggered the campaign midday by visiting Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and asking her to dissolve Parliament and set an election for April 28. Speaking outside Rideau Hall following that meeting, Carney said he is offering solutions rather than anger and division.
"It's easy to be negative about everything when you've never built anything; when you've never had to make a payroll," he said. "Negativity won't win a trade war."
Carney started his campaign with a promise for a one-point cut to the middle class tax rate and said an election is necessary to have a strong response to American economic threats.
The Liberal leader, who has not yet served as an MP, will seek election in the Ottawa riding of Nepean, which shares a boundary with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's Carleton riding.
Poilievre was first out of the gates Sunday, holding a news conference in Gatineau, Que. across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill, before Carney's visit to Rideau Hall had begun.
Poilievre said he plans to "restore Canada's promise" and tackle affordability issues that he blames on elites.
"Our nation is more divided than ever before, because the Liberal, radical, post-national, borderless and globalist ideology has weakened our nation," Poilievre said.
"Now, desperate for a fourth term, Liberals have replaced Justin Trudeau with his economic adviser and hand-picked successor, Mark Carney."
Poilievre said he will bring down the cost of living and fix the immigration system while having a strong military.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh opened his campaign from a downtown Ottawa hotel, reiterating his party's success in convincing the Liberals to enact national dental care and pharmacare programs.
He said the other two parties aren't the best to manage "Donald Trump's illegal trade war" because they support the rich.
"The people who earn their living by showing up to work, who dream of owning a home, raising a family, and retiring with a modest pension — they're being abandoned," he said.
"When Donald Trump comes demanding concessions, who will say no to trading away Canadian jobs or the things we grow and build and ship?"
Recent polls have suggested the Liberals and Conservatives are in a neck-and-neck race and the comfortable polling lead the Conservatives enjoyed for more than a year has all but evaporated. The NDP, which a few months ago was tied with the Liberals in many surveys, has watched its support plummet.
Trump has threatened to economically coerce Canada into becoming a U.S. state, implementing some tariffs and promising others in response for a shifting set of policy changes ranging from fentanyl flows to dairy quotas.
In a recent interview with right-wing American outlet Breitbart, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she asked the Trump administration to put tariffs on pause until after the election, and said she thinks Poilievre and the U.S. president are "very much in sync" on many issues and "doesn't believe in any of the woke stuff."
The interview was dated March 8 but got cross-partisan attention in recent days, with former Conservative campaign adviser Ken Boessenkool saying on X that Smith "asked for foreign interference" and suggested it might be worth a movement to have her recalled as premier.
Asked about the Smith interview Sunday, Poilievre would not say whether her comments were appropriate, but pointed out that Trump recently said it would be easier to deal with a Liberal.
Leaders leaned into Canadian pride Sunday, with Carney saying Canadians can't control Trump but they can shape their own destiny.
"We can give ourselves more than any foreign government can take away," he said. "We're over the shock of the betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons."
Poilievre avoided his previous messaging that "Canada is broken" and instead focused on how the country allowed him to run for its highest office after being born to a single mom who put him up for adoption. He said he would make Canada "strong, self-reliant and sovereign."
Singh painted Canada's social model as better than that of the U.S., and the result of deliberate policy choices.
"The things that we are most proud of as Canadians didn't just happen," he said.
"My parents chose Canada because they believed in the promise of a country where if you worked hard, you can build a good life. Where we look out for one another, and no one gets left behind," Singh said.
All three leaders wrapped up the day by holding rallies with supporters, met with cheering crowds and many waving the Canadian flag.
The Green Party launched its campaign in Montreal with co-leader Elizabeth May saying her team is the only one standing up to fight climate change, after the Liberals suspended their consumer carbon levy.
'We don’t make up our mind by checking the winds of popular views and polls,” May said. “We stand up for Canadians and for our planet based on what scientists tell us.”
At 34, co-leader Jonathan Pedneault is the youngest of the federal leaders, and will be the face of the party during the campaign, including taking part in the debates.
— With files from Maura Forrest in Montreal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2025.
Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
