Prime Minister Mark Carney has pledged to fast-track major infrastructure projects and scrap a planned capital gains tax increase as Canada heads into a federal election campaign.

Carney dropped the writ Sunday after asking Governor-General Mary Simon to dissolve Parliament. The move comes as Parliament was set to resume Monday, following Simon’s decision in early January to grant former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s request to prorogue it.

To counter U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, Carney announced that he and Canada’s premiers have agreed to eliminate all interprovincial trade barriers and streamline environmental assessments for major projects, including high-speed rail, hydroelectricity grids, and pipelines. The plan would replace duplicative federal and provincial environmental reviews with a single streamlined process.

“One project, one review. It’s time to build,” Carney told reporters Friday as he met with premiers.

The prime minister has also outlined a series of economic measures to support businesses, including the temporary deferral of corporate income tax payments and GST/HST remittances until June 30. Additionally, Ottawa will waive the one-week waiting period for employment insurance benefits to help workers affected by economic uncertainty.

Carney, a former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor who succeeded Trudeau on March 9, said Canada must improve its productivity and economic resilience. He emphasized that eliminating internal trade barriers alone could boost the Canadian economy by $250 billion—equivalent to more than $6,000 per person.

“Together, we can give ourselves more than any foreign nation can ever take away,” Carney told reporters. “We can more than offset the effects of U.S. tariffs by eliminating internal trade barriers alone.”

As part of his plan to develop a national trade and economic corridor, Carney announced several key initiatives:

• The creation of a First Mile Fund to finance transportation infrastructure connecting energy extraction sites to rail lines and roads.
• A new one-window approval process for large-scale national-interest projects, a move designed to ensure streamlined, predictable reviews with strong safety, environmental, and Indigenous consultation standards.
• A contribution agreement of up to $200 million for the Cedar LNG processing facility in Kitimat, B.C., a joint-venture between the Haisla Nation and Pembina Pipeline Corporation.
• A $175 million investment in the Hudson Bay Railway and the Port of Churchill, Man., to enhance trade corridors and economic development in Canada’s Arctic and North.

Carney also committed to introducing legislation by July 1, to eliminate all federal barriers to interprovincial trade and labour mobility, as well as removing federal exemptions under the Canada Free Trade Agreement.

The latter pledge is conditional on Carney’s Liberal government retaining office in what is expected to be a tight election race.

“President Trump claims that Canada isn’t a real country,” Carney told reporters after dropping the writ Sunday. “He wants to break us so America can own us. We will not let that happen.”

The Prime Minister’s Office said in a news release that, by harmonizing regulations and enhancing labour mobility, Canada can create a more integrated economy, strengthening supply chains, reducing business costs, and unlocking new opportunities for Canadian companies.

Voters will cast their ballots on April 28.

Photo: Bank of England