Canada will go to polls on Monday with US President Donald Trump’s policy being central to the run off between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
Carney, who replaced former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in March called the snap elections to seek a strong mandate amid high tensions with the US.
Carney’s Liberal Party which once seemed to be heading towards a historic defeat rose from the shadows after Trump’s heavy tariffs and annexation threats.
“I reject any attempts to weaken Canada, to wear us down, to break us so that America can own us,” Carney told reporters in late March. “We are masters in our own home.”
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I Know How World Works: Carney
The former governor of Bank of Canada and Bank of England, Carney’s assumed the premiership of Canada just as when Trump began levying tariffs.
Carney based his electoral campain pitching himself as an experienced professional from the political centre who can steward the country’s economy through a period of profound economic turbulence.
“I understand how the world works,” he said in a podcast in October.
“I know people who run some of the world’s largest companies and understand how they work. I know how financial institutions work. I know how markets work…I’m trying to apply that to the benefit of Canada,” he added.
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‘Everyday Canadians Vs Ottawa Elites’
Meanwhile, Conservative leader Poilievre built his campaign around a battle between everyday Canadians and the “Ottawa elites” who have run the country for the past nine years.
“The same people who ran Justin Trudeau are now running Mark Carney,” Poilievre said shortly after Carney became the prime minister.
Pitching “Canada First”, Poilievre wants to slash government funding, streamline the country’s bureaucracy and strip away environmental laws to further exploit the country’s vast natural riches.
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How Does the Canada Federal Election Work?
Voters will elect candidates for the 343-member House of Commons, the lower chamber of Canada. The country has a “first-past-the-post” electoral system and the candidate who gets the most votes in each riding or constituency wins that seat and becomes the MP.
They do not need to get the majority of all the votes cast in the area. The other parties win nothing in that area.
The leader of the party with the highest number of elected MPs usually forms the government while the party that finishes second sits as the official opposition.
A Canadian citizen at least 18 years of age or older with proof of identity and address is eligible to vote in the federal polls.
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