The New Democrats may be gearing up to call a snap election as early as March 10, according to an internal memo sent out to MPs by the party’s national campaign director.
A copy of the memo, entitled “Election timing and planning,” was first obtained by the Globe and Mail and sent out to around 140 nominated candidates and their staff on Wednesday.
“It is becoming more and more likely that Mark Carney will be the next Liberal leader on March 9th,” wrote federal campaign director Jennifer Howard.
The memo also discusses the need for Parliament to return so Canada can respond to U.S. tariffs.
“If Mark Carney does win the leadership, we are hearing from many Ottawa sources that he intends on calling an election shortly after becoming Liberal leader,” it reads.
“On that basis, we believe the rumours of Mr. Carney calling a snap election are credible. Taking a page from Doug Ford’s playbook, the Liberals believe that they can turn this crisis into a political benefit for them,” it continued.
However, Prime Minister Trudeau has yet to confirm the exact date of his resignation.
“Nonetheless, Parliament stands prorogued, and no Liberal leadership candidate – including Mr. Carney – has reached out to any Opposition leaders to discuss emergency legislation coming to Parliament to deal with Donald Trump’s trade war and the impact on Canadians,” reads the memo.
If Carney wins the Liberal leadership race, it would mark the first time that Canada had a prime minister who was not a Member of Parliament since 1984, when John Turner succeeded Pierre Trudeau as Liberal prime minister.
Carney and the Liberals likely would want an early election, given that a recent Leger poll indicated that the gap between the Conservatives and Liberals would disappear if Carney were to square off against Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in a general election.
A separate Nanos poll from last week found 40 per cent of Canadians believe Carney would be best suited to handle negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump, beating out all other leadership contenders including Poilievre.
Poilievre came in second place, receiving 26 per-cent of respondents’ support, when they were asked “Which of the following politicians would do the best job at negotiating with U.S. president Donald Trump?”