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.

It was another symbolic gesture of support for Canada from a King, wearing a red tie, who has to send coded signals rather than spell things out in words, as Canada faces threats from US President Donald Trump.

But the King has sought to make clear his commitment to Canada – and if it had not been for his cancer diagnosis, the BBC understands he would have travelled there for an intended visit in 2024.

There are also suggestions that once Canada’s election is out the way, a visit to Canada will be a priority, where he can further demonstrate his support.

The new Canadian prime minister told the King that his Order of Canada pin had broken this morning. The King joked: “Do you want another one?”

“There’s much to catch up on,” said the King, ushering Carney to a seat, and perhaps hoping that the broken pin was not a symbol of a Commonwealth relationship under strain.

“These are important matters,” said the King, ahead of a 30-minute conversation with no one else in attendance.

The meeting with Carney is the latest scene in an intricate diplomatic balancing act for a King who is head of state of both the UK and Canada.

King Charles has to show solidarity with Canada without disrupting the UK’s relationship with Trump, who is antagonising Canadians with his economic threats and calls for Canada to become the US 51st state.

The King also has to avoid getting directly involved in politics – and has to speak on advice of ministers. Whatever he might personally believe about Trump’s comments about taking over Canada, the King has to keep his thoughts to himself.

Adding to this complicated choreography is that the royals are one of the strongest cards the UK can play with President Trump. He seemed delighted by his second state visit invitation from the King.

So messages from the King are sent in symbolic displays. In case anyone missed the signs over Canada, there have been multiple moments. And then some more.

When the King visited aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, he appeared wearing a set of Canadian medals.

The 60th anniversary of Canada’s maple leaf flag might usually have passed without any royal intervention, but there was a fulsome message sent by the King, praising the “proud, resilient and compassionate country”.

A ceremonial sword for Canada became an event at Buckingham Palace with a formal presentation by the King.

At a tree planting ceremony in Buckingham Palace, the tree chosen was a maple. And when the King sat down at the Commonwealth Service last week, it was on a Canadian chair.

If any of these moments were accidental, they were not being rejected by Buckingham Palace, with royal sources emphasising the King’s commitment to Canada.

But there is no avoiding the tensions and contradictions in this balancing act. Emails from Canadians to the BBC’s Royal Watch newsletter show that many want a much more robust defence from the King.

“What a cop out! Throw Canada to the wolves. Giving us back pats for our flag’s anniversary doesn’t quite cut it. Here sits a monarchist who is seriously rethinking his allegiance to the crown!” emailed Brian, a Canadian military veteran.

Carol in Vancouver was unhappy at the invitation from the UK for a second state visit by President Trump.

“I feel ashamed for the Brits feeling they have to follow through with inviting such a boor for dinner. For the life of me I do not understand why he has this power over you,” she wrote.

“As a Canadian, the invitation is a slap in the face to the people of Canada. If the King is our King (as we are a Commonwealth country), and Trump is basically at war with us, how dare King Charles give him any credence?” emailed Patricia.

“As a Canadian I am saddened, appalled, disgusted and angry that King Charles appears to be joining the conga line of supplicants,” said Jo-Ann in Ontario.

But King Charles will have to keep to the line set by ministers, and if that means maintaining good relations with Trump, he is unlikely to be saying anything more outspoken.

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”.

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.”

It’s an extraordinary result for a man with very little political experience. He has never been elected as an MP, let alone served in a cabinet post.

What Carney does have though – as Governor of the Bank of Canada during the global financial crisis and Governor of the Bank of England during the Brexit negotiations – is a long track record in global finance during times of economic turbulence.

And at a moment like this, Carney has been arguing, that could prove invaluable.

Politics in this country has been turned on its head as a result of what’s happening south of the border, with US President Donald Trump launching a trade war and threatening to make Canada the 51st state of America.

Addressing a crowd of Liberal supporters after the result of the leadership contest was announced on Sunday evening, Carney promised to face down the threats from Trump, over the tariffs and the claims on Canada’s sovereignty.

“Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape or form,” he said. “We didn’t ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves.

“Americans should make no mistake”, he warned. “In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.”

He repeatedly referred to the US president by name and said his government would keep retaliatory tariffs in place until “America shows us respect”.

How he will translate his strong language on the stage in Ottawa into practical solutions to those twin challenges was, however, far less clear.

Liberals might hope that Trudeau’s exit from the stage will, in itself, help clear the air.

Instead of the frequent mocking of Trudeau by Trump as a “weak” leader, they might dare to believe that Carney will at least be able to reset the personal chemistry.

On the other hand, if he has to push hard in an attempt to win concessions, will he also risk incurring the wrath of a man who uses unpredictability as a political art form?

Much of that will depend on how serious the US president is in his insistence that he wants to impose real economic pain on Canada and annex its territory.

And that’s a hard question to answer.

After Carney had accepted the party’s nomination, I caught up with former Canadian Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, who served for a decade from 1993 and who’d taken to the stage earlier in the evening.

Did he think Trump was being serious?

“You know, I don’t know,” he told me. “Do you know? Does anyone know? I’m not a medical doctor or a psychiatrist. He changes his mind every two or three hours. So [for him] to be leader of the free world, it is preoccupying for everybody.”

While the US threat is dominating Canadian politics – Carney described the current situation as “dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust” – there are still domestic political matters to focus on too, not least the prospect of a general election.

Once sworn in as prime minister in the coming days, Carney will have to decide whether to call a snap election. If he doesn’t, the opposition parties in parliament could force one later this month through a no-confidence vote.

Before Trudeau said he was stepping down, the Liberal Party was facing electoral oblivion.

After nine years in power, he’d become a liability and a lightning rod for public anger over the rising cost of living despite record levels of government spending and a ballooning national debt.

The stage appeared to be set for the Liberals to be swept from power by a Conservative Party under the stewardship of the young, populist leader Pierre Poilievre, who had turned lambasting Trudeau into something of a sport.

Now, not only has he lost the advantage of a deeply unpopular opponent, his political style is at risk of appearing out of step. In the current environment, even a loose alignment with the politics of Trump is a potential liability with Canadian voters.

The Republican president, for his part, recently said Canada’s Conservative leader was not Maga enough.

The Liberal Party is suddenly feeling a sense of rejuvenation – the gap in the opinion polls with the Conservatives, once a gulf, has narrowed dramatically. And you could feel that palpable sense of optimism in the room on Sunday evening.

Aware of the danger, Poilievre accused Liberals of “trying to trick Canadians” to elect them to a fourth term. But his statement also highlighted how Trump is changing the political messaging on this side of the border.

“It is the same Liberal team that drove up taxes, housing costs, and food prices, while Carney personally profited from moving billions of dollars and thousands of jobs out of Canada to the United States,” Poilievre wrote.

“We need a new Conservative government that will put Canada First – for a change.”

Trump’s election has led Canada to rally to round its flag and has propelled a former central bank governor – an archetypal member of the country’s political elite – to the highest office in the land.

The Conservatives may still lead in the polls, but for the first time in a long time, the Liberals believe that, under Carney, they have a fighting chance again.

The former governor of the Canadian central bank and Bank of England beat three rivals in the Liberal Party’s leadership contest in a landslide.

In much of his victory speech, Carney, 59, attacked Trump, who has imposed tariffs on Canada and said he wants to make the country the 51st US state. “Americans should make no mistake,” he said. “In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.”

Carney is expected to be sworn in the coming days and will lead the Liberals in the next general election, which could be called in the coming week.

Carney, now prime minister-designate, has never served in elected office.

The Liberal leadership race began in January after Trudeau resigned following nearly a decade in office. He had faced internal pressure to quit over deep unpopularity with voters, who were frustrated with a housing crisis and the rising cost of living.

Carney won on the first ballot on Sunday evening, taking 85.9% of the vote to beat his nearest rival, former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Loud cheers erupted as the results were announced to a crowd of some 1,600 party faithful in Ottawa, Canada’s capital.

The party said more than 150,000 people had cast ballots in the race.

Carney, who will lead a minority government in parliament, could either call a snap general election himself or opposition parties could force one with a no-confidence vote later this month.

The governing Liberals have seen a remarkable political turnaround since Trudeau’s exit, as Canadians have been galvanised by Donald Trump’s trade threats and support for annexing their country

At the beginning of the year, they trailed the Conservatives, led by Pierre Poilievre, by more than 20 points in election polls.

They have since narrowed the gap and some polls show them statistically tied with Poilievre’s party.

Much of Carney’s speech focused on what he called Trump’s “unjustified tariffs” on Canada, America’s largest trading partner.

The US imposed levies of 25% on Canadian goods last Tuesday, but rowed back within days to exempt goods compliant with an existing trade agreement.

Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs of its own as Trudeau accused his US counterpart of trying to collapse the country’s economy.

Carney echoed that in his victory speech, saying Trump was “attacking Canadian workers, families, and businesses”.

“We can’t let him succeed,” he added, as the crowd booed loudly.

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

Canada’s economy depends significantly on trade with the US and risks tipping into recession if the sweeping tariffs threatened by Trump are fully imposed.

“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.

Carney also pledged to “secure our borders” – a key demand of Trump who has accused Canada of failing to control the flow of migrants and fentanyl going south.

The US president even got a mention in Carney’s attacks on his main opponent, Conservative leader Poilievre.

“Pierre Poilievre’s plan will leave us divided and ready to be conquered,” said Carney.

“Because a person who worships at the altar of Donald Trump will kneel before him, not stand up to him.”

Shortly before Carney took to the stage, Trudeau gave an emotional farewell speech, reflecting on his 12 years as Liberal leader.

He warned that Canada was facing an “existential challenge” from the US under Trump.

The Conservatives have had to pivot politically since Trudeau’s resignation, and are attacking Carney as not representing change but rather being “just like Justin”.

They accuse the Liberals of a “sneaky” plan to win a fourth term by simply substituting their leader.

Poilievre’s party has also accused Carney of lying about his role in moving investment firm Brookfield Asset Management’s head office from Toronto to New York.

Carney said the formal decision by shareholders to relocate the firm was made after he quit the board at the start of this year but a letter emerged showing he had recommended the move in December.

Federal Public Safety Minister David McGuinty, who endorsed Carney, told the BBC that he “embodies the kind of quiet determination, but steely determination and competence to deal with some of these big issues”.

“I’m really, really excited for what’s coming. And frankly, it’s time for an election.”

The Liberals will face Poilievre’s Conservatives, who are the official opposition with 120 seats in the House of Commons; the Bloc Quebecois, who have 33 seats; and the New Democrats, who have 24, when Canadians next go to the polls.

The former central banker has run on a broadly centrist agenda, a shift from Trudeau, who moved the Liberals to the left.

A major promise is to push forward major energy projects like pipelines, which have faced political roadblocks in recent years.

He has promised major investments in housing and clean energy projects, and to liberalise trade within Canada, where barriers remain between provinces, as well as diversifying the economy away from the US.

During the leadership race, Carney promised to cap the size of the federal government, which expanded 40% under Trudeau.

The former Bank of England governor chose to lean strongly into resisting Donald Trump’s policies at his acceptance speech. He said the US president had brought “dark days” from “a country we can no longer trust” and that he was “proud” of Canadians resisting the US “with their wallets”.

While on trade specifically Mr Carney vowed to keep the retaliatory tariffs “until Americans show us respect”, it was clear that the general threats against Canadian sovereignty are equally as important in his thinking.

Trump has repeatedly said he will use economic power to encourage Canada to become the 51st state of the US, but Carney hit back. “The Americans want our resources, our land, our water, our country… Canada will never be part of America in any way, shape or form,” he said.

Behind the scenes, Carney has been encouraging a very robust response to Mr Trump. As he told me last month in his only UK interview during his campaign to succeed current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, it was necessary to “stand up to a bully”.

He ridiculed Trump’s allegations of Canada’s involvement in fentanyl trade, and the US president’s suggestion that Canada has ripped off the US. Canada’s trade deficit is caused “entirely” by its exports of subsidised oil, Carney told me, and “perhaps we should ask for that subsidy back”.

He follows in the footsteps of former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi as a former top central banker who became a G7 leader. It is an otherwise rare path, but it may be good timing when Canada’s nearest neighbour has suggested using economic power to take over.

Carney has experience in this area having dealt with a number of acute political-economic crises, such as the banking crash, the eurozone crisis, sterling’s sharp slide after Brexit, and the start of the pandemic.

He has also regularly attended G20 meetings at leader level, including in the presence of Trump, as chair of the Financial Stability Board, an international economic body. At one such meeting, the Trump team threatened to leave the International Monetary Fund.

Carney believes that Trump only respects power. Of any attempt to mollify Trump, he said “good luck with that”. He will focus further tariff retaliation on bringing inflation and interest rate rises to Canada’s “southern neighbour”.

The Canadian election is due by October, but Carney might call an earlier one. Depending on that, he is on course to host Trump in Canada at the G7 Summit in June.

His rise to the top job raises the stakes for the UK. On the one hand, a more robust approach from an allied G7 leader stands in contrast to the UK’s attempt to hug the White House closely.

On the other hand, Carney also hinted at wanting to diversify trade towards “more reliable” partners, which would include the UK and EU. Canada might send its subsidised energy to Europe, rather than the US.

The bigger strategic point is that Carney’s background means a focus on international solidarity, and defence of the existing multilateral system. He says Canada can “stand on its own feet” but sees merit in creating a more coherent international alliance to focus the minds of Congress and tariff-sceptics in the Trump administration.

Canada’s new leadership expects support from its Commonwealth ally, the UK. After my recent interview with him, Carney turned the camera to the portrait on the wall of the office from which he was talking to me: King Charles. The message was clear. Canada and the UK should be on the same side in this new world era.