Canadians to vote in election overshadowed by US tariff and annexation threats

Voters will decide today whether to grant interim Prime Minister Mark Carney a full four-year mandate or give the Conservative Party a turn at the wheel after over nine years of Liberal Party government.

Canadians head to the polls on Monday for an election overshadowed by tariffs, economic uncertainty and annexation threats from the United States. Voters will decide whether to grant interim Prime Minister Mark Carney a full four-year mandate or give the Conservative Party a turn at the wheel after over nine years of Liberal Party government. Canadians begin casting their ballots in the country’s easternmost province, Newfoundland and Labrador, at 8:30 a.m. local time (7 a.m. ET) Monday. Canada’s uneasy relationship with the US has deeply influenced the tenor of this year’s campaign. US President Donald Trump’s tariffs against Canadian exports pose a grave threat to the country’s economy, and his threats to absorb Canada as “the 51st state” have enraged Canadians of every political persuasion. “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.” Though Canadians have a diverse array of parties to choose from on their federal ballots, the main contest is between the incumbent Liberals, led by Carney since March, and the Conservative opposition, led by longtime parliamentarian Pierre Poilievre.