TORONTO: New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will run in an Ottawa area district as he seeks to join Parliament for the first time, the Liberal Party announced Saturday, a day before Carney triggers an early general election before a vote on April 28.
The election will take place against the backdrop of a trade war and sovereignty threats from US President Donald Trump.
The Liberal Party said Carney will run to represent the suburban Ottawa area of Nepean, noting in a social media post that Ottawa is where he raised his family and devoted his career to public service. He previously served as the head of Canada’s central bank and before that its deputy.
The election campaign for 343 seats or districts in the House of Commons will last 37 days.
The party that commands a majority in the House of Commons, either alone or with the support of another party, will form the next government and its leader will be prime minister.
Carney replaced Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January, but remained in power until the Liberal Party elected a new leader on March 9 following a leadership race by the governing party.
Carney, sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister on March 14, has said the government in a time of crisis needs a strong and clear mandate.
The governing Liberals had appeared poised for a historic election defeat this year until Trump declared a trade war. Trump has repeatedly said that Canada should become the 51st US state and he acknowledged Friday that he has upended Canadian politics.
What Trump hasn’t said is that the almost daily attacks on Canada’s sovereignty have infuriated Canadians. That has led to a surge in Canadian nationalism that has bolstered Liberal poll numbers.
The opposition Conservatives hoped to make the election about Trudeau, whose popularity declined as food and housing prices rose and immigration surged. But after decades of bilateral stability, the vote is now is expected to focus on who is best equipped to deal with Trump.
Trump put 25 percent tariffs on Canada’s steel and aluminum and is threatening sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products — as well as all of America’s trading partners — on April 2.
Carney still hasn’t had a phone call with Trump and that might not happen now until after the election. Trump mocked Trudeau by calling him governor, but he has not yet mentioned Carney’s name.
Carney, 60, was the head of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 financial crisis. In 2013, he became the first noncitizen of the United Kingdom to run the Bank of England — helping to manage the impact of Brexit.
Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservatives, is Carney’s main challenger. The party and Poilievre were heading for a huge victory in Canada’s federal election this year until Trump’s near-daily trade and annexation threats derailed them.
Poilievre, 45, for years the party’s go-to attack dog, is a career politician and firebrand populist who says he will put “Canada first.” He attacks the mainstream media and vows to defund Canada’s public broadcaster. His party announced that it won’t allow media onboard his campaign buses and planes.
Canada’s new PM Carney will run in Ottawa area district as he seeks to join Parliament
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Canada’s new PM Carney will run in Ottawa area district as he seeks to join Parliament
- Carney, sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister on March 14, said the government in a time of crisis needs a strong and clear mandate
- The governing Liberals had appeared poised for a historic election defeat this year until Trump declared a trade war
Tensions flare in Minnesota as protesters and federal agents repeatedly square off
- The Trump administration has repeatedly defended the immigration agent who shot Good, saying he acted in self-defense
- With the Department of Homeland Security pledging to send more than 2,000 immigration officers into Minnesota, the state, joined by Minneapolis and St. Paul, sued President Donald Trump’s administration Monday to halt or limit the surge
MINNEAPOLIS: Federal officers dropped tear gas and sprayed eye irritant at activists Tuesday during another day of confrontations in Minneapolis while students miles away walked out of a suburban school to protest the Trump administration’s bold immigration sweeps.
The government’s immigration crackdown is next headed to a federal court where Minnesota and two mayors are asking a judge to immediately suspend the operation. No hearing has been set on the request.
Gas clouds filled a Minneapolis street near where Renee Good was fatally shot in the head by an immigration agent last week. A man scrubbed his eyes with snow and screamed for help while agents in an unmarked Jeep sprayed an orange irritant and drove away.
It’s common for people to boo, taunt and blow orange whistles when they spot heavily armed agents passing through in unmarked vehicles or walking the streets, all part of a grassroots effort to warn the neighborhood and remind the government that they’re watching.
“Who doesn’t have a whistle?” a man with a bag of them yelled.
Brita Anderson, who lives nearby and came to support neighborhood friends, said she was “incensed” to see agents in tactical gear and gas masks, and wondered about their purpose.
“It felt like the only reason they’d come here is to harass people,” Anderson said.
Separately, a judge heard arguments and said she would rule by Thursday or Friday on a request to restrict the use of force, such as chemical irritants, on people who are observing and recording agents’ activities. Government attorneys argued that officers are acting within their authority and must protect themselves.
In Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, students protesting the immigration enforcement operation walked out of school, as students in other communities have done this week.
With the Department of Homeland Security pledging to send more than 2,000 immigration officers into Minnesota, the state, joined by Minneapolis and St. Paul, sued President Donald Trump’s administration Monday to halt or limit the surge.
The lawsuit says the Department of Homeland Security is violating the First Amendment and other constitutional protections by focusing on a progressive state that favors Democrats and welcomes immigrants.
“This is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, and it must stop,” state Attorney General Keith Ellison said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said: “What we are seeing is thousands — plural — thousands of federal agents coming into our city. And, yeah, they’re having a tremendous impact on day-to-day life.”
Dozens of protests or vigils have taken place across the US to honor Good since the 37-year-old mother of three was killed.
Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down. Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, responding to the lawsuit, accused Minnesota officials of ignoring public safety.
“President Trump’s job is to protect the American people and enforce the law — no matter who your mayor, governor, or state attorney general is,” McLaughlin said.
The Trump administration has repeatedly defended the immigration agent who shot Good, saying he acted in self-defense. But that explanation has been widely panned by Frey, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and others based on videos of the confrontation.
Two Democratic lawmakers from Massachusetts announced Tuesday they are sponsoring a bill to make it easier for people to sue and overcome immunity protections for federal officers who are accused of violating civil rights. The bill stands little chance of passage in the Republican-controlled Congress.
In Wisconsin, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez is proposing that the state ban civil immigration enforcement around courthouses, hospitals, health clinics, schools, churches and other places. She is hoping to succeed Gov. Tony Evers, a fellow Democrat, who is not running for a third term.
“We can take a look at that, but I think banning things absolutely will ramp up the actions of our folks in Washington, D.C.,” Evers said, referring to the Trump administration. “They don’t tend to approach those things appropriately.”
