Canadians Set to Vote in PM Election   04/28 06:05

   Canadians will decide Monday whether to extend the Liberal Party's decade in 
power or instead hand control to the Conservatives. They'll pick either Prime 
Minister Mark Carney or opposition leader Pierre Poilievre to lead the way 
forward, but the election is also a referendum of sorts on someone who isn't 
even Canadian: Donald Trump.

   TORONTO (AP) -- Canadians will decide Monday whether to extend the Liberal 
Party's decade in power or instead hand control to the Conservatives. They'll 
pick either Prime Minister Mark Carney or opposition leader Pierre Poilievre to 
lead the way forward, but the election is also a referendum of sorts on someone 
who isn't even Canadian: Donald Trump.

   Until the American president won a second term and began threatening 
Canada's economy and sovereignty, even suggesting the country should become the 
51st state, the Liberals looked headed for defeat.

   Canadians go the polls as the country grapples with the aftermath of a fatal 
car ramming attack on Saturday in Vancouver. The tragedy on the eve of the 
election prompted the suspension of campaigning for several hours. Police ruled 
out terrorism and said the suspect is a local man with a history of mental 
health issues.

   Trump's truculence has infuriated many Canadians, leading many to cancel 
U.S. vacations, refuse to buy American goods and possibly even vote early -- a 
record 7.3 million Canadians cast ballots before election day. Trump also put 
Poilievre and the Conservative Party on the back foot after they appeared 
headed for an easy victory only months ago.

   "The Americans want to break us so they can own us," Carney said recently, 
laying out what he saw as the stakes for the election. "Those aren't just 
words. That's what's at risk."

   Poilievre, a populist firebrand who campaigned with Trump-like bravado, had 
hoped to make the election a referendum on former Prime Minister Justin 
Trudeau, whose popularity declined toward the end of his decade in power as 
food and housing prices rose and immigration surged. But then Trump became the 
dominant issue, and Poilievre's similarities to the bombastic president could 
cost him.

   "He appeals to the same sense of grievance," Canadian historian Robert 
Bothwell said of the Conservative leader. "It's like Trump standing there 
saying 'I am your retribution.'"

   Foreign policy hasn't dominated a Canadian election this much since 1988, 
when, ironically, free trade with the United States was the prevailing issue.

   Whichever candidate emerges as prime minister will face a litany of 
challenges.

   Canada has been dealing with a cost of living crisis for some time. And more 
than 75% percent of its exports go to the U.S., so Trump's threat to impose 
sweeping tariffs and his desire to get the North American automakers to move 
Canada's production south could severely damage the Canadian economy.

   Both Carney and Poilievre said that if elected, they would accelerate 
renegotiations a free trade deal between Canada and the U.S. in an bid to end 
the uncertainty hurting both of their economies.

   Carney, in particular, has notable experience navigating economic crises, 
having done so when running Canada's central bank and later after becoming the 
first non-U.K. citizen to run the Bank of England.

   Trump dialed back his talk of Canada becoming the 51st state during the 
campaign until last week, when he said Canada "would cease to exist as a 
country" if the U.S. stopped buying its goods. He also said he's not just 
trolling Canada when he says it should become a state.

   "The Liberals ought to pay him," Bothwell said. "Trump talking is not good 
for the Conservatives."

   In response to the threats to Canadian sovereignty, Carney pleaded with 
voters to deliver him a strong mandate to deal with Trump.

   "President Trump has some obsessive ideas, and that is one," Carney said of 
his annexation threat. "It's not a joke. It's his very strong desire to make 
this happen. It's one of the reasons why this crisis is so serious."