Carney says Trump key issue in Canada's election, while Conservative rival says country needs change

TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday the key question in Canada's election is who is best to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump while his Conservative rival argued that Carney doesn't represent change after a decade of Liberal Party rule.

Opposition Conservative Pierre Poilievre said during the French-language leaders’ debate Canada needs change and Carney is just like his predecessor Justin Trudeau.

“Mr. Poilievre is not Justin Trudeau. I’m not Justin Trudeau either. In this election the question is who is going to face Mr. Trump," Carney said.

Trump’s trade war and threats to make Canada the 51st state have infuriated Canadians and led to a surge in Canadian nationalism that has bolstered Liberal Party poll numbers ahead of the April 28 vote.

Poilievre is imploring Canadians not to give the Liberals a fourth term. He hoped to make the election a referendum on Trudeau, whose popularity declined toward the end of his decade in power as food and housing prices rose and immigration surged.

But Trump attacked, Trudeau resigned and Carney, a two-time central banker, became Liberal party leader and prime minister after a party leadership race.

“One of the differences, there are many, but one of the differences between the two of us is that I put much more emphasis on the economy, on growing the economy,” Carney said when asked about Trudeau at a news conference after the debate. “In fact in this circumstance that we are in, given the scale of the crisis, I would say relentless focus on growing the economy.”

During the debate Carney said he has only been prime minister for a month.

“We need change. You do not embody change,” Poilievre said to Carney.

Bloc Québécois Yves-François Blanche, whose party is losing support to Carney's Liberals in Quebec, agreed, saying the Liberals are the same party, the same ministers and the same lawmakers and a new leader does not change that.

But public opinion has changed. In a mid-January poll by Nanos, Liberals trailed the Conservative Party by 47% to 20%. In the latest Nanos poll released Wednesday, the Liberals led by 8 percentage points. The January poll had a margin of error 3.1 points while the latest poll had a 2.7-point margin.

“Carney, who played safe, did not make the kind of big mistakes that could have altered the dynamic of the race in Quebec,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal. “I don’t think the debate will have a major impact on the race in Quebec, which remains dominated by the Liberals.”

The French debate was moved up by two hours to minimize a conflict with a Montreal Canadiens hockey game. The NHL team faced off against the Carolina Hurricanes at 7 p.m. ET, and clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

This isn’t the first time NHL hockey has elbowed its way onto the campaign trail. During the 2011 election, former Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe asked for a debate to be postponed due to a Canadiens hockey game, and his request was granted.

The English language debate is Thursday evening.

New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh participates in the French-language federal leaders' debate, in Montreal, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Liberal Leader Mark Carney makes a point towards Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre during the French-language federal leaders' debate in Montreal, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre makes a point as he participates in the French-language federal leaders' debate, in Montreal, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet, New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre listen to Liberal leader Mark Carney speak during the French-language federal leaders' debate, in Montreal, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

From left to rigt, Liberal leader Mark Carney, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet, New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre pose for a photo before the French-language federal leaders' debate, in Montreal, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran has proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic as an ongoing crackdown on demonstrators has led to hundreds of deaths.

Trump said late Sunday that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports mount of increasing deaths and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night.

Iran did not acknowledge Trump’s comments immediately. It has previously warned the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has accurately reported on past unrest in Iran, gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran cross checking information. It said at least 544 people have been killed so far, including 496 protesters and 48 people from the security forces. It said more than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

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China says it opposes the use of force in international relations and expressed hope the Iranian government and people are “able to overcome the current difficulties and maintain national stability.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that Beijing “always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned “in the strongest terms the violence that the leadership in Iran is directing against its own people.”

He said it was a sign of weakness rather than strength, adding that “this violence must end.”

Merz said during a visit to India that the demonstrators deserve “the greatest respect” for the courage with which “they are resisting the disproportional, brutal violence of Iranian security forces.”

He said: “I call on the Iranian leadership to protect its population rather than threatening it.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday suggested that a channel remained open with the United States.

Esmail Baghaei made the comment during a news conference in Tehran.

“It is open and whenever needed, through that channel, the necessary messages are exchanged,” he said.

However, Baghaei said such talks needed to be “based on the acceptance of mutual interests and concerns, not a negotiation that is one-sided, unilateral and based on dictation.”

The semiofficial Fars news agency in Iran, which is close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on Monday began calling out Iranian celebrities and leaders on social media who have expressed support for the protests over the past two weeks, especially before the internet was shut down.

The threat comes as writers and other cultural leaders were targeted even before protests. The news agency highlighted specific celebrities who posted in solidarity with the protesters and scolded them for not condemning vandalism and destruction to public property or the deaths of security forces killed during clashes. The news agency accused those celebrities and leaders of inciting riots by expressing their support.

Canada said it “stands with the brave people of Iran” in a statement on social media that strongly condemned the killing of protesters during widespread protests that have rocked the country over the past two weeks.

“The Iranian regime must halt its horrific repression and intimidation and respect the human rights of its citizens,” Canada’s government said on Monday.

Iran’s foreign minister claimed Monday that “the situation has come under total control” after a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in the country.

Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim.

Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.

Iran’s foreign minister alleged Monday that nationwide protests in his nation “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene.

Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim, which comes after over 500 have been reported killed by activists -- the vast majority coming from demonstrators.

Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.

Iran has summoned the British ambassador over protesters twice taking down the Iranian flag at their embassy in London.

Iranian state television also said Monday that it complained about “certain terrorist organization that, under the guise of media, spread lies and promote violence and terrorism.” The United Kingdom is home to offices of the BBC’s Persian service and Iran International, both which long have been targeted by Iran.

A huge crowd of demonstrators, some waving the flag of Iran, gathered Sunday afternoon along Veteran Avenue in LA’s Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian government. Police eventually issued a dispersal order, and by early evening only about a hundred protesters were still in the area, ABC7 reported.

Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran.

Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with the the demonstrators, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver. A police statement said one person was hit by the truck but nobody was seriously hurt.

The driver, a man who was not identified, was detained “pending further investigation,” police said in a statement Sunday evening.

Protesters burn the Iranian national flag during a rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government in Paris, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)