OTTAWA: New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday (Mar 23) called a snap election for Apr 28, saying he needed a strong mandate to deal with the threat posed by US President Donald Trump, who "wants to break us so America can own us."

The comments showed the extent to which relations between the US and Canada, two long-time allies and major trading partners, have deteriorated since Trump imposed tariffs on Canada and threatened to annex it as the 51st state.