Ontario Provincial Police said on social media that the rescue began around noon (16:00 GMT) on Sunday after “winds and current moved the ice shelf away from shore” approximately 2km (1.2 miles).

The rescue involved two helicopters making multiple trips to pluck people off the shelf as it continued to fracture into more pieces in the Owen Sound, about 200km north-west of Toronto.

One member of the group said that he only realised the ice he was fishing on had detached from shore when he noticed that his GPS showed him moving.

Members of the rescued group described harrowing moments, with several of them becoming partially submerged in the cold waters as they sought out the thickest ice on the floe, or sheet.

“I looked at my GPS. We were moving,” fisherman Kevin Fox wrote, identifying himself on Facebook as one of those who were caught up in the incident. “I turned around and saw waves forming behind us.”

He said that he and several others started running towards a route that they hoped still connected to shore.

“We decided to run toward one side of the bay, but when we got there the ice had already separated from shore. We turned and ran the other way, but the ice there was breaking apart too,” he wrote.

Some started phoning their families, said Fox, adding: “It’s something I will never forget – seeing grown men crying while saying goodbye to the people they love.”

Fellow fisherman Alfie How told The Owen Sound Sun Times that they eventually “just sat down as a group and said this could be the end”.

Fox told the paper that the rescue occurred during high wind, and the group was concerned that the helicopters would not be able to fly.

“It was being eroded,” Fox said. “It kept getting smaller, and smaller.”

Police say several members of the group suffered hypothermia, but that everyone was expected to make a full recovery.

“Great teamwork and a quick response by all involved,” police added.

Last month in the US state of Vermont, police rescued a group of ice skaters who had also become trapped on floating ice.

Using kayaks and ferry boats, rescuers brought the group back from the icy Lake Champlain.

Officials warn that ice fishing conditions can change rapidly during the relatively warm daylight hours.

With Canada’s businesses reeling from a trade dispute with the US, Carney – a former two-time central banker – is expected to pitch himself as the candidate best equipped to take on Donald Trump.

The 60-year-old political newcomer took over as leader of the Liberal Party after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped down from his nine-year term.

The prime minister’s announcement to call an election and request the dissolution of Parliament will kick off a five-week campaign for Carney and his political opponents.

While the timing of the request to dissolve parliament is clear – the exact election date is not.

The prime minister is leaning towards setting April 28 as the voting date, the Globe and Mail and the Associated Press reported on Thursday, citing sources in the government.

Some suggest a shorter campaign could work in Carney’s favor, since much of the current national discourse revolves around the ongoing trade war between the US and Canada, particularly after President Trump’s threats and actions.

The election is “almost certain to focus on US President Donald Trump’s trade war and his talk of making Canada the 51st state”, The Globe and Mail wrote.

Carney has promised to uphold Canada’s reciprocal tariffs, if Trump maintains 25% universal tariffs on Canadian goods not covered by the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) trade deal.

Trump has vowed to impose a sweeping range of tariffs on 2 April on top of the 25% tariffs already imposed on Canada’s steel and aluminium.

The race will likely come down to a choice between Carney and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.

Before the threat of tariffs, Conservatives enjoyed a 20-point lead in some election polls. Now polls are indicating a much closer race.

When Canadians next go to the polls, the Liberals will face not only the Conservatives – who are the official opposition with 120 seats in the House of Commons – but also the Bloc Quebecois, who have 33 seats, and the New Democrats (NDP), who have 24.

All of them were dual citizens and their identities have been withheld, Canada’s foreign minister Mélanie Joly said.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Canada reportedly urged Ottawa to “stop making irresponsible remarks”, as pundits feared a further downturn in relations between the countries after years of strain.

China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that it had acted “in accordance with the law”, while the embassy said there was “solid and sufficient” evidence for their crimes.

Beijing had “fully guaranteed the rights and interests of the Canadian nationals concerned”, the embassy said, urging Canada to respect “China’s judicial sovereignty”.

China does not recognise dual citizenship and takes a tough stance on drug crimes. However, it’s rare for the death penalty to be carried out on foreigners.

Joly said she had been following the cases “very closely” for months and had tried with other officials, including former prime minister Justin Trudeau, to stop the executions.

In a statement to Canadian media, Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod said Canada had “repeatedly called for clemency for these individuals at the senior-most levels and remains steadfast in its opposition to the use of the death penalty in all cases, everywhere”.

China imposes the death penalty on serious crimes including those related to drugs, corruption and espionage. While the number of executions are kept secret, human rights groups believe China has one of the highest execution rates in the world.

“These shocking and inhumane executions of Canadian citizens by Chinese authorities should be a wake-up call for Canada,” said Ketty Nivyabandi from Amnesty International Canada. “We are devastated for the families of the victims, and we hold them in our hearts as they try to process the unimaginable.”

“Our thoughts also go to the loved ones of Canadian citizens whom China is holding on death row or whose whereabouts in the Chinese prison system are unknown.”

In 2019, Canadian national Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was sentenced to death in China for drug smuggling, in a high-profile case condemned by the Canadian government. He was not among the Canadians that were executed.

“We’ll continue to not only strongly condemn but also ask for leniency for other Canadians that are facing similar situations,” Joly said on Wednesday.

Relations between Canada and China have been icy since 2018 after Canada detained a Chinese telecom executive, Meng Wanzhou, on a US extradition request. China arrested two Canadians shortly afterwards, both of whom have now been released.

In 2023, Canadian media released reports, many based on leaked intelligence, about detailed claims of Chinese meddling in the country’s federal elections. China denied the reports, calling them “baseless and defamatory”.

More recently, China imposed retaliatory tariffs on some Canadian farm and food imports after Ottawa levied Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminium.

The remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran were recovered at the Prairie Green Landfill, north of the city of Winnipeg, said officials. Authorities had been searching for the bodies of Ms Harris and Ms Myran, both of Long Plain First Nation.

The two victims were among four indigenous women killed in 2022 by convicted murderer Jeremy Skibicki.

The search of the Prairie Green Landfill began late last year following a lengthy pressure campaign by indigenous leaders.

Ms Myran’s remains were officially identified by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Manitoba on Monday, while the remains of Ms Harris were identified earlier this month.

In a news release, the Manitoba government said Ms Myran’s family has been notified of the discovery and has asked for privacy.

Cambria Harris, Morgan Harris’s daughter, said in a Facebook post earlier this month that the discovery of her mother’s remains was a “very bittersweet moment”.

“Please keep our families in your hearts tonight and every day going forward as we trust this process,” she said.

Police and province initially declined to search the landfill for the remains of the women, and a federal government study concluded that a search could take three years and cost up to C$184m (£100m; $128m), with workers exposed to hazardous chemicals.

Following pressure from the families and a change in government, Manitoba’s new premier, Wab Kinew, eventually pledged C$20m for the search. The funds were matched by the federal government.

The search officially began in December. In late February, search crews recovered human remains, later identified as that of Ms Harris and Ms Myran.

The Manitoba Progressive Conservatives, who had rejected a landfill search when they formed government, issued a formal apology in the legislature to the families this month.

“Our government erred. It’s as simple as that,” said interim PC Leader Wayne Ewasko.

Premier Kinew has said that “many Canadians always understood that this was the right thing to do to search the landfill”.

“But now, we can also say with confidence, that this was also the realistic and reasonable thing to do,” he added.

Skibicki was convicted last July of the murders of Ms Harris,39, and Ms Myran,26, as well as of killing a third woman, Rebecca Contois, 24, of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation. A fourth victim is still unidentified, and has been given the name Buffalo Woman.

Their murders went undetected for months until a man looking for scrap metal in a bin outside Skibicki’s apartment found partial human remains, identified as belonging to Ms Contois.

Canada has long faced a crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, indigenous women make up 10% of the population of missing women in Canada and 16% of female homicides. Indigenous women make up about 4% of the female population in Canada.

Three words that are now a common presence on Canadian shelves, after Donald Trump’s tariffs sparked a trade war with the US’s northern neighbour.

In Canada the economic measures against it have been met with a wave of patriotism, with some consumers and businesses boycotting American products.

Others with operations in the US face a choice – ride out the uncertainty or bring their enterprise back home.

“Right now, I’m a little angry. I don’t want to invest in American companies,” says Joanna Goodman, owner of Au Lit Fine Linens, a Toronto-based bedding and nightwear company.

“It’s about having your eggs in one basket. And right now, that basket is very reckless and very precarious,” she continues.

On a tour around one of her firm’s two stores, housed in a giant warehouse, Ms Goodman highlights elegantly made-up beds, mannequins in silk pyjamas, and shelves full of sweet-smelling candles – most of it made in Canada.

But one fifth of the stock currently comes from the US. Ms Goodman is quick to point out, “you see how big the store is, so even 20% is a lot”.

“I have a lot of inventory here of American brands that I’ve had relationships with for 20 years. I’m not going to throw it away,” she says. “The question is, will I reorder?”

To show Au Lit Fine Linens’ commitment to Canadian manufacturers, its stores now highlight everything that is Canadian made. This is mirrored on its website, which has a “shop all made in Canada” section, and says “made right here at home”.

From Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, to the Ukraine war, global events in recent years have given rise to a more recent phenomenon – reshoring.

Bringing business operations back to home shores, it is the reversal of offshoring.

Business leader and recently-appointed new member of Canada’s Senate, Sandra Pupatello, says that reshoring is “really obvious” to support.

Pupatello, who had previously been Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development and Trade, points to the Covid-19 pandemic, when rules of trade “went right out the window”.

She specifically cites the example of US mask manufacturer 3M coming under pressure from the White House in 2020 to halt exports to Canada and Latin America.

In that moment Pupatello thought: “We’ve got to be prepared for the worst”.

Shortly after, she established Reshoring Canada, a non-partisan group advocating for a more resilient supply chain in Canada.

Pupatello tells the BBC: “If the going gets tough, Canada is on its own. And if we know that’s the case, let us plan for it.”

A Canadian government report from last year found that there had “not been signs of either large-scale or any notable increased reshoring by businesses”, but things could now be changing.

Ray Brougham has been trying to make inroads into the Canadian car manufacturing sector since establishing his company Rainhouse Manufacturing Canada in 2001. Based in British Columbia, it manufactures parts for a number of industries.

The North American car industry’s integrated supply chains can see parts crossing the borders between the US, Mexico, and Canada multiple times before a vehicle is finally assembled.

US President Donald Trump said he would temporarily spare US carmakers from a new 25% import tax imposed on Canada and Mexico, just a day after the tariffs came into effect in March.

But in the shadow of a trade war, Mr Brougham says he has had “good communications” with a large Canadian auto parts company for the first time ever. “All of a sudden they are interested in working closer with other Canadian companies.”

For Mr Brougham and others, the benefits of reshoring are clear. From giving a leg up to small companies that have struggled to compete with manufacturers overseas, to ensuring fair wages, and the environmental benefits of importing and exporting fewer goods.

Others, including Graham Markham, director of a food sector supplier, believe it’s about adding value to products Canada already produces.

His Canadian firm New Protein International is currently constructing Canada’s first soy protein manufacturing plant in southwest Ontario, just miles from the US border.

Canada is the world’s fourth-largest exporter of the crop, but most of it is processed overseas.

“We don’t process those value-added ingredients into more valuable ingredients here at home,” says Mr Markham.

From critical minerals and uranium to lumber and soybeans, he argues that this is the moment to change.

“Canada has long been a successful supplier of raw materials to the world. The opportunity now is to stop exporting the job creation and innovation that comes from processing those materials domestically.”

So, could manufacturing start coming back to Canada? Economist Randall Bartlett says it is too early to tell.

“There’s a lot more smoke than there is fire when it comes to actual reorganisation of supply chains and moving them domestically,” says Mr Bartlett, senior director of Canadian economics at Quebec-based Desjardins.

“I think there has been some movement toward reshoring, but I think there’s a lot more narrative around it than there is actual re-establishing of manufacturing capacity.”

There are major hurdles too.

The highly-integrated auto industry, for example, would take years to untangle. Reshoring it would require “many tens of hundreds of billions of dollars in both private and public sector investment to make happen”, according to Mr Bartlett.

Then there’s the reality of global trade.

“Some countries are better at producing some things than other countries are,” Mr Bartlett says, suggesting that rather than a full reshoring push, diversifying Canada’s trade partners might be more practical.

He says that Canada should focus on “those industries where we have a comparative advantage”, which he says include renewable energy and processing steel and aluminium. Those two metals have now been hit with a 25% tariff if they are exported to the US.

Back at Au Lit Fine Linens in Toronto, Joanna Goodman steps into a vast stockroom, filled with the sound of carboard boxes being packed.

“We’re shipping orders to the US that came in pre-tariffs,” she explains, before pausing. “We did get an order the day of the tariffs starting, and it was a very decent-sized order.”

She says that she doesn’t know whether the US buyer understands that tariffs will now apply. “He has to ask Mr Trump [why]”.

As for what comes next? “These tariffs could be gone any day. Let’s see how it all unfolds, then we’ll start making decisions,” says Ms Goodman.

Like many Canadian businesses, she’s waiting for the dust to settle before deciding where to buy, where to sell, and what Made in Canada really means for the future.

Also signalling support was King Charles, who planted a red maple tree on the grounds of Buckingham Palace and wore his Canadian medals during a high-profile visit to a naval warship.

Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney has arrived in Paris before heading to London on Monday – a day after his 60th birthday – for his first foreign visit hoping to achieve more than symbolic encouragement. He wants solid support from allies.

Not only is Canada being targeted, like Europe, by a raft of swingeing US tariffs, but Donald Trump is making it clear he wants to take over his northern neighbour.

“We appreciate all the symbolic gestures but we need more public backing,” a Canadian official told me in a voice which underlined the nervous disbelief shared by most Canadians – Trump is not joking when he calls Canada the United States’s “51st state”.

The official messaging from Ottawa about Carney’s trip underlines his priorities – finance and fortifying security – a natural fit for the economist who headed the central banks in both Canada and the UK. A statement from his office said his visit is meant “to strengthen two of our closest and longest-standing economic and security partnerships”.

His itinerary is full of great symbolism too.

Carney revealed it on Friday during his first speech as prime minister when he hearkened back – with a shiny polish – to the origins of this former colony. He hailed “the wonder of a country built on the bedrock of three peoples: indigenous, French and British”.

So there’s a third destination on this whistle-stop tour – Iqaluit, the capital of Canada’s northernmost territory of Nunavut and homeland of its Inuit people. That stop, the statement emphasised, was to “reaffirm Canada’s Arctic security and sovereignty”.

Spectacular Arctic and northern terrain makes up 40% of the land mass of the world’s second largest country. Protecting it is a critical Canadian concern in the midst of intensifying rivalry among world powers in the Arctic region, which has drawn in the US, Russia, China and more; it’s the cold war of all cold wars.

And there’s a personal twist. Carney was born in the small town of Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories, which lies next to Nunavut.

His schedule underlines that he also needs to be a quick study in a new skill – retail politics. A federal election, which has to be held by October, is expected to be called very soon. Carney needs to prove that he can engage with voters, in English and French, as naturally as he does with bankers and finance bosses.

And he needs a proper political mandate. He secured a whopping 86% of the vote when his Liberal Party chose to replace Justin Trudeau, who stepped down as prime minister amid growing calls to resign from his own party after a decade at the top.

But Carney doesn’t have a seat in parliament; he still doesn’t have the vote of Canadians.

His Liberal party has just experienced a dramatic reversal, a “Trump bump” as well as a Trudeau one. The party which seemed certain to lose, and lose badly, is now tied with its main Conservative rivals in the polls.

Looking like a world leader, and understanding the world of tariffs and trade, is a good look when you are running for high office in the dark shadow of an external threat.

“I think part of the purpose of Mark Carney’s trip to Europe is to show that he can talk internationally to other like-minded powers at this very important moment,” reflects the eminent Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan.

Back home, voters will decide if that is what counts.

Carney is certain to talk Trump tactics, in private, with France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Britain’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. They’ve both taken great pains to flatter the US president in public, and press their case behind closed doors.

Many will be watching to see how Trump addresses Mark Carney – he recently referred to Canada’s former prime minister as “Governor Trudeau”.

Canada’s new top talker has been talking tough.

A week ago, when Carney won his party’s leadership contest, he invoked Canada’s national sport, ice hockey, which has long been locked in rivalry with US teams. “Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves,” Carney declared to rousing applause.

“Make no mistake, Canada will win.”

But everyone knows this is no game. Carney described this escalating trade war as “the greatest crisis of our lifetime”. More than 80% of Canada’s exports cross the border to the US.

And while there have been a few reports of Canadians flying the US flag, a recent poll by the Angus Reid Institute underlined that a thumping 91% of Canadians reject becoming the 51st state.

On Friday, in Ottawa’s icy cold weather, Carney struck a warmer tone, highlighting how he and Trump share a background in business, including real estate.

“The president is a successful businessperson and dealmaker. We are his largest client in so many industries,” he remarked. “Clients expect respect and working together in a proper commercial way.”

Carney says he “looks forward” to speaking with President Trump. But the fact it will be a call, not a visit, is a measure of this moment. Traditionally, the first foreign visit of a Canadian leader is to the US – its closest neighbour and most trusted partner.

On Monday, Carney is expected to sit down with King Charles, Canada’s head of state. The British monarch recently expressed his “deepest affection” for Canada, and is said to have already penned a private letter to the new prime minister.

In his non-political role, showing love in public may be the limits of the King’s power. But even that sends a message to the American president.

Sir Keir has described Canada as “an ally, and a very important ally too”. But last week, the head of Britain’s Liberal Democrats Ed Davey called on him to show more public support for Canada to oppose the “shocking attacks” on its sovereignty.

This may be a week of that old adage in diplomacy and politics – “to do something and be seen to be doing it”.

In his previous roles as governor of the Bank of Canada, the country’s central bank, and of the Bank of England, Carney previously helped both countries weather major financial disruption.

That experience is expected to come in handy as Carney negotiates an ongoing trade war with US President Donald Trump.

He will replace outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after a landslide victory in last week’s Liberal leadership race.

Governor General Mary Simon will preside over the swearing-in of Carney – Canada’s 24th prime minister – and his cabinet ministers. The moment will formally mark the end of nine years of political power for Trudeau.

But the celebration surrounding his successor’s inauguration may be short lived, if Carney chooses to bring forward Canada’s next federal election – currently scheduled for October.

When the election does happen, Carney is expected to pitch himself as the best equipped candidate to take on Trump in the trade war he has launched since returning to the White House.

Carney has promised to uphold Canada’s reciprocal tariffs on specific American goods for as long as Trump maintains 25% universal tariffs on Canadian goods not covered by the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) trade deal.

“We can’t let him succeed,” Carney said in his victory speech on Sunday.

Until the Americans “show us respect” Carney said his government would keep tariffs on US imports.

“I know these are dark days,” Carney said. “Dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust.

“We’re getting over the shock, but let us never forget the lessons: we have to look after ourselves and we have to look out for each other. We need to pull together in the tough days ahead.”

Canada is dependent on trade with the US. Economists say it risks a recession if Trump’s tariffs are fully imposed.

When the federal election comes, Carney’s main rival will be Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre who has been compared in his style to Trump – which is now seen by some pundits as an electoral liability rather than an asset.

Before the the threat of tariffs, Conservatives enjoyed a 20-point lead in some election polls. Now, some polls are indicating a much closer race.

When Canadians next go to the polls, the Liberals will face not only the Conservatives – who are the official opposition with 120 seats in the House of Commons – but also the Bloc Quebecois, who have 33 seats, and the New Democrats, who have 24.

Carney made these comments during a visit to a steel plant in Hamilton, Ontario, as Canada unveiled C$29.8bn ($20.7bn) in reciprocal tariffs on US imports.

Trump earlier slapped 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium coming into the country.

Since Trump took office in January, the two countries have been involved in an escalating trade war, with the US president repeatedly threatening to annex its neighbour.

Carney condemned the latest round of US tariffs as “unjustified” on Wednesday.

“We’re all going to be better off when the greatest economic and security partnership in the world is renewed, relaunched,” he said.

Canada, which is the biggest foreign supplier of steel and aluminium to the US, is heavily exposed to the tariffs.

Trump has justified the tariffs, claiming they were necessary for US national security and to boost demand for domestic producers, which he argues has been “depressed” by foreign competition.

The US president implemented a blanket 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, citing concerns over drugs and migrants crossing the US border.

The tariffs on steel and aluminium, effective from Wednesday, mark the end of exemptions previously granted to several countries, including Canada.

In retaliation, Canada announced tariffs on US goods, including steel and aluminium, with additional measures set to take effect at 00:01 EST (04:01 GMT) on Thursday.

The new tariffs cover a range of products, including C$12.6bn on steel, $3bn on aluminium, as well as tools, computer equipment, water heaters, sports equipment, and cast-iron products.

Experts say the growing trade dispute threatens economic stability for both countries.

On Wednesday, Canada’s central bank cut interest rates to 2.75% from 3% to prepare the country’s economy for disruption.

Canadian Finance Minister Dominic Leblanc told a news conference that the country was still seeking to de-escalate.

“If you’re racing to the basement, there’s no real prize for the first person to get to the basement,” he said.

On Thursday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, along with federal representatives, will meet US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Lutnick told Fox Business that at the meeting he plans to try to “level set” things between the two nations.

Mark Carney, who was elected leader of the governing Liberal Party on Sunday, is set to be sworn in as prime minister, replacing Justin Trudeau. He has promised to win the trade war against Trump, following his landslide victory.

Canada’s identity ‘much broader than official languages’ – Carney

A French-speaking reporter asks Carney about the change of the ministerial portfolio of Canadian Heritage to Canadian Culture and Identity.

The new PM says the change is about strengthening Canadian identity, with language at the centre of it.

He adds that the question of the country’s identity is much broader than just official languages – it also includes nature, oceans and biodiversity.

“To ensure those things are protected and promoted.”

Carney won’t announce yet where he is running in general election

Back to the election Canada has to hold before November and Carney is asked where in the country will he choose to run.

He is the first prime minister to never serve as a member of Parliament, and must run for a seat once the election is called.

“Today is not the day to announce where I will run,” Carney says.

Trump appeared convinced that Trudeau would remain in office

Although  Trudeau stepped down as Liberal Party leader before Trump took office, the US president has insisted that the now-former Canadian prime minister would not quit.

Trump has repeatedly said over the past weeks that he thinks Trudeau wants to take advantage of the trade war between the two countries to remain in office.

Last week, Trump wrote in a social media post that Trudeau “is using the Tariff problem, which he has largely caused, in order to run again for Prime Minister”.

It is not clear what gave Trump that false impression. But Trudeau had definitively ruled out staying as prime minister – even in a caretaker capacity – after the Liberals elected a new leader.

And he has now left office.

Canada’s opposition leader slams Carney as ‘just like Justin’

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has hit out at Carney over the past several weeks by likening the economist to Trudeau and his government’s most unpopular policies.

Carney served as an economic adviser to the outgoing prime minister, but he was never an elected member of the Parliament of Canada.

In a post on X shortly after Carney was sworn in, Poilievre said most of the new prime minister’s cabinet served under Trudeau, as well.

“A Liberal is a Liberal is a Liberal,” the Conservative leader said.

Canada vote ‘turning into a one-issue election’

The  Liberal Party in some ways has Donald Trump to thank for them rebounding in the polls. The Liberals had been on track for an enormous defeat after nine years of Justin Trudeau in office.

But now this is turning into a one-issue election. Carney is presenting himself as a steady pair of hands. As far as his argument is concerned, he’s the best qualified to face Donald Trump.

Now, it doesn’t help the main opposition party leader, the Conservative Party leader, Pierre Poilievre, that he had rather presented himself as a sort of Canadian Donald Trump – [with his slogan] “Canada first”.

That has rather backfired now that we have this outpouring of patriotism amongst Canadians as Donald Trump threatens to annex Canada.

When is Canada’s election?

A firm date hasn’t been set for the upcoming election.

The vote must take place by October 20, but it is likely to happen much sooner. As the party in government, the Liberals can effectively call a vote at any time.

Experts say an early election call appears likely, as the Liberals are riding a wave of increased support due to Trump’s tariffs and Trudeau’s decision to step down.

Opposition parties can also trigger an election by passing a no-confidence vote in the House of Commons. Trudeau suspended Parliament in January when he announced his resignation, and lawmakers are set to return on March 24.

If Carney doesn’t call an early election himself, Canada’s Conservative Party and the Bloc Quebecois have said they plan to try to bring down the Liberal government at the earliest opportunity to force a vote.

Trump threatening Canada’s ‘political sovereignty, economic prosperity’

Aaron  Ettinger, an associate professor of political science at Carleton University, says that’s why Canada has hit back so hard against the US president’s policies.

Trump has imposed 25-percent tariffs on a range of Canadian goods, including steel and aluminium, and threatened more. He also has called for Canada to become the 51st US state.

“From Canada’s perspective, there are two core interests at play – political sovereignty and economic prosperity – and Trump is threatening those two core things,” Ettinger told Al Jazeera.

“So it makes sense that the Canadian government and governments across the board are fighting back with tools that have rarely been used before vis-a-vis the United States.”

Ettinger said he believes Canada is hoping that its countertariffs on American goods would lead to political repercussions for Trump in the 2026 US midterm elections, which would force him to reconsider his policy.

“Canada can’t win in a slugfest with the United States in the long term, so it’s applying targeted pain with the understanding that this has to work in under two years,” Ettinger said.

“The thinking is that if you apply enough pain to enough Americans, they’ll cry uncle, he will lose political support, he will lose elections [and] there will be a move to resolve the economic crisis.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, a regular on major US networks where he has addressed Americans directly, was among the first in Canada to pull US alcohol off the shelves as a trade war between the two neighbours ramped up.

Ford has also ripped up a multi-million dollar contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink, and has been unafraid to use energy exports to the US as a bargaining chip – all in a bid to get Trump to withdraw his tariff threats against Canada.

The right-wing, plain-spoken politician admitted he was initially delighted Donald Trump won re-election and viewed him as an ally.

But then, Ford said, using an expletive, the US president pulled a knife and “yanked it into us”.

This week, it appeared that Ford’s unusual tactics had grabbed Trump’s attention.

Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn on Tuesday, the US president described Ford as a “very strong man” as he addressed Ontario’s threat to slap a 25% surcharge on US-bound electricity.

Ford has since shelved that plan pending further discussions with the Trump administration. But his threat to hike the price of electricity on Americans seems to have earned him a grudging nod of respect from Trump, who later backed off from doubling tariffs on aluminium and steel to 50%.

It also helped Ford score a meeting with US officials in Washington to discuss the future of the Canada-US trade relationship.

Ford is expected to sit at the negotiating table on Thursday with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The meeting will also be attended by Canada’s Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc.

It is unclear whether Ford’s defiant stance will earn Canada more favours from Trump. It is also an approach that is not unanimously agreed on, with Premier Danielle Smith of the oil-rich Alberta vehemently refusing to withhold any of her province’s energy exports to the US.

Trump’s recent willingness to turn down the heat, however, signals that Ford may be succeeding in grabbing the attention of the US, said Shakir Chambers, a Canadian Conservative strategist at the Toronto-based Oyster Group.

“That’s how you deal with Trump, through a position of strength,” Mr Chambers told the BBC. “Ford understands the language of Trump’s people and inner circle.”

It at least earned him a rare compliment from the US president, who for several months has berated Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau repeatedly by calling him “governor,” while expressing his desire to absorb Canada and make it “the 51st state”.

Also rare is seeing the Oval Office pay attention to the premier of a Canadian province, whose day-to-day is ordinarily preoccupied with domestic matters such as infrastructure projects, healthcare funding and co-operating with the federal government.

But these are no ordinary times in Canada. The country is in the middle of a transfer of power, from outgoing Trudeau to Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney.

It is also facing what has been referred to as an “existential threat” from its neighbour and long-time ally to the south.

Announcing his intention to pause energy tariffs pending trade talks, Ford vowed to Canadians that he will not “roll over” and warned that using Ontario’s energy supply as a bargaining chip remains on the table.

But he said he will not ignore the chance to resolve this dispute with Americans.

His emergence as the face of Canada’s fight is, in many ways, understandable. As Ontario premier, he is at the helm of a province that is home to 16 million people and Canada’s large auto manufacturing sector, which is deeply intertwined with that of the US, leaving it vulnerable to any broad tariff threats.

He is also chair of the Council of the Federation, a multilateral congress that includes all of Canada’s provincial and territorial premiers.

On Wednesday, Ford kept busy ahead of his meeting with the Americans. He sat down for breakfast with incoming Prime Minister Carney, where the two discussed the need to “stand firm and strong” to Trump.

Americans will undoubtedly see more of Ford in the coming weeks and months. The premier just decisively secured four more years in office after campaigning on standing up against the US president.

For Ontarians, Ford is a well-known figure. He has led the province since 2018 and is only the second premier in its history to secure three consecutive majority government wins.

He is the product of a Toronto political dynasty known as “Ford Nation”. For many years, he was overshadowed by his younger brother, the late Rob Ford, who was the mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014 before he was ousted after a crack cocaine scandal.

Locally, the Fords are infamous for their “authentic” and approachable style of politics, said Mr Chambers, who was coached high school football by the younger Ford.

Premier Ford is known for handing out his personal cell phone number to constituents, encouraging them to contact him directly. During a news conference on US tariffs last week, he urged people to be patient as he worked to respond to more than 4,000 text messages he has received lately.

Despite his popularity, the premier is also embroiled in several controversies. Chief among them is an ongoing police investigation into a now-scrapped deal his government made that would have allowed the development of environmentally-protected land.

On the national stage, he has run up against Alberta Premier Smith, who has called for a more measured and cautious response to Trump and his tariffs.

That caution has also been practised by other leaders, namely France’s Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, both of whom struck a more diplomatic tone in their February visits to the White House.

But Ford’s defiant stance against Trump is widely supported in Canada. Polls show the majority of Canadians support retaliating against the US, and a swell of nationalism has since emerged across the country.

While Ford has been forceful, he has also been careful in his direct appeals to Americans.

“Believe me when I say I don’t want to do this,” he said earlier this week when he announced his plan to hike electricity prices, before underscoring that his priority is to protect Ontario jobs.

Mr Chambers said he expects more of that consolatory but firm tone at Thursday’s meeting.