SHORTEST CAMPAIGN EVER: Carney's April 28 election is shortest campaign allowed by law

Prime Minister Mark Carney has officially asked Governor General Mary Simon to dissolve Parliament and trigger a federal election set for April 28, 2025.

Source: CPAC

Prime Minister Mark Carney has officially asked Governor General Mary Simon to dissolve Parliament and trigger a federal election set for Apr. 28, 2025.

This means federal parties will have just 37 days to campaign–the minimum time required by law–as the Liberal party seeks a contentious fourth term without former prime minister Justin Trudeau at the helm.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre spoke in Gatineau, Quebec just before the election call on Sunday.

“Today the Liberals are asking for a fourth term in power after swapping Justin Trudeau for his economic advisor and his hand-picked successor Mark Carney. But after a lost Liberal decade the question is whether Canadians can’t afford a fourth Liberal term,” said Poilievre.

Poilievre accused the Liberals of inflating housing costs, pushing Canadians to resort to food banks, wrecking Canada’s immigration system and making Canada’s economy overreliant on the U.S.

Carney held a press conference soon after he met with Governor General Simon at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.

“I’m asking for a strong positive mandate for my fellow Canadians. I’ve just requested that the governor general dissolve Parliament and call an election for Apr. 28 and she has agreed,” said Carney.

Carney took office on Mar. 14, just a week after winning the Liberal leadership in a vote that saw fewer than half of registered party members participate. He was Canada’s first prime minister to have never held elected office before.

According to a Liberal Party of Canada social media post, Carney will be running in the Ottawa riding of Nepean. Liberal MP Chandra Arya has held the riding but the party recently denied his candidacy for re-election and disqualified his bid for the party leadership before that.

The leadership race itself, and subsequently Carney’s ascent to power, was decided by only around 150,000 Liberal party members.

The timing of the election call has raised eyebrows with it occurring just one day before Parliament was set to resume and the Liberals gaining territory in the polls. Trudeau had previously asked to prorogue Parliament, delaying its return.

Carney has attempted to capitalize on a change of leadership by presenting himself as an “outsider” but many of his prior cabinet picks indicated more of the same from the Liberals.

The election will be fought on the backdrop of increasingly hostile tariffs from the U.S. and even talk of annexation by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Despite Liberal attempts to portray Poilievre as an ally of Trump, the U.S. president recently told Fox News’s Laura Ingraham that he would prefer to deal with a Liberal in charge versus a Conservative. Trump described Poilievre’s criticisms of his administration as “negative” and had also claimed that the Conservative leader was “not a MAGA guy.”

An exclusive poll commissioned by Juno News and conducted by ONE Persuasion found that the Conservatives and Liberals were neck and neck, with both parties polling at 37% and 35% respectively.

Carney’s brief time in the Prime Minister’s Office saw him lowering the consumer portion of the carbon tax to zero but keeping the carbon pricing legislation in place. He also travelled abroad for meetings with European leaders and made a trip to Iqaluit, Nunavut to announce a defence partnership with Australia which a top former Canadian general called an “electioneering” campaign stunt.

Additionally, Carney pledged to keep Trudeau’s oil and gas sector cap in place and appointed mass immigration lobbyist and Century Initiative co-founder Mark Wiseman as a Canada-U.S. relations advisor.

Carney has also faced scrutiny over his financial holdings, initially denying any conflicts of interest, he later admitted that he may have to recuse himself from certain government decisions if elected prime minister.

Reports indicate he may still be owed up to $6.8 million in stock options from Brookfield Asset Management, where he served before his leadership bid.