“He wants to break us, so America can own us. We will not let that happen.

“We’re over the shock of the betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons. We have to look out for ourselves; we have to look out for each other. We are masters in our own home.”

Carney announced his intention to reduce the country’s lowest income tax bracket from 15 per cent to 14 per cent, a move he said would save a two-income family up to $C825 ($917) a year.

There would also be significant announcements aimed at increasing housing supply, he said. Like Australia, Canada is grappling with a housing affordability crisis and has put caps on foreign students and temporary workers, which Carney said would remain in place until housing caught up.

But it’s the question of who can best stand up to Trump and defend Canada’s interests that may decide the election.

Both sides have embraced a Canadian version of patriotism, with Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre standing at podiums saying “Canada First” and desperate to shake accusations he’s a mini-Trump.

“Let me be clear, we will never be an American state; we will always be a sovereign and self-reliant country,” Poilievre said in a speech as the election was called.

“The action we must take is to become that nation that’s strong, self-reliant and sovereign, capable of standing on its own two feet and standing up to the Americans. We will stare down this unprovoked threat with steely resolve.”

Carney, meanwhile, rolled out a TV advertisement in which he tests Canadian actor and comedian Mike Myers – who lives in the US – on his Canadian bona fides. At the end of the ad, the back of Myers’ hockey jersey shows the word “Never” – a rejection of Trump’s insistence that Canada should become the 51st US state.

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Only a few months ago, the election looked to be a slam dunk for the Conservatives, who have been out of power since Trudeau’s 2015 victory. After nearly a decade, the Liberals were severely on the nose, and amid a cabinet exodus, Trudeau prorogued the parliament and pledged to resign.

But the political landscape has changed dramatically. The Liberals have a new leader with the kind of business pedigree that seems useful for handling Trump. And the party’s portrayal of Poilievre as “maple syrup MAGA” appears to resonate with voters.

According to the aggregate poll tracker by Canadian public broadcaster CBC, the major parties are effectively neck and neck, and if an election were held today, the Liberals would likely win just enough seats to form a majority government.

Trump claims to be agnostic about the outcome. “I think it’s easier to deal, actually, with a Liberal. I don’t really care; it doesn’t matter to me at all,” he told Fox News last week. Poilievre, he said, was “stupidly no friend of mine”, noting the Conservative leader had criticised him.

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With no seat in parliament and no mandate, Carney had little choice but to ride the momentum and call an election.

Both leaders talk the talk on Trump; their task now is to convince voters they can walk the walk.

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