Conservatives target Trump as Canada campaign kicks off [Video]

Canada’s Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre argued Monday that he is the strongest candidate to take on US President Donald Trump, whose annexation and tariff threats have shaken the once promising chances of a Tory-led government.

The leading candidates ahead of Canada’s April 28 election fanned out on the first full day of campaigning in a vote certain to be dominated by Trump.

Liberal leader and Prime Minister Mark Carney, who replaced Justin Trudeau earlier this month, was in the eastern province of Newfoundland, saying Canadians needed to view the United States as “a friendship lost.”

Trump’s return, while potentially devastating for Canada’s economy, appears to have boosted the Liberals, with several polls showing them as a slight favorite, a stunning turnaround from early January when the Conservatives looked headed for a landslide.

Poilievre built significant support as a relentless critic of an unpopular Trudeau government, but Trump’s return and Trudeau’s …