Liberal Leader Carney pokes at Alberta Premier Smith at first Western campaign stop

Liberal Leader Mark Carney is starting off his first British Columbia campaign stops by drawing a contrast with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

Carney arrived late Sunday in Victoria where he is expected to spend a significant amount of the third week of the federal campaign.

He told supporters at a community hall in Victoria Sunday night that Canada is rethinking its relationship with the U.S. and needs more growth in fields like green energy.

The Liberals and Carney have surged in most polls in recent weeks as Canadians say U.S. President Donald Trump's economic threats are their top concern.

Carney said there's been a national effort to convince Americans to change policies like tariffs, including Ontario Premier Doug Ford addressing the conservative Fox News network.

"We're sending Doug Ford on to Fox News, to show them we're not messing around up here. And we're going to send Danielle next, we're — well maybe we won't send Danielle," he said, with a grimace. "That was a bad idea."

He later joked, when his microphone cut out just as he was discussing clean energy, that "that was Danielle."

Smith declared victory last week when Trump stopped short of imposing tariffs on all Canadian imports including energy, and instead proceeded with his planned tariffs affecting Canadian sectors such as automotive and steel industries.

In an interview last month with the outlet Breitbart News, Smith called on U.S. officials to pause tariffs until after the election and said that Poilievre's "perspective" would be "very much in sync with, I think, with the new direction in America."

Except for one day in Winnipeg, Carney's campaign tour stayed in Eastern Canada for the first two weeks.

Carney is set to make an announcement and hold a news conference in Victoria today.

He will then meet with B.C. Premier David Eby before heading to the Vancouver area for an evening rally in Richmond, B.C.

At Sunday's rally in Victoria, Sylvia Samborski said she's supporting Carney because he seems able to handle Trump's threats against Canada's economy and sovereignty.

"A lot of Canadians are really fearful right now, and I think that we feel hope right now because we have somebody who's articulate, intelligent, and experienced," she said, noting that concerns about the U.S. are particularly acute in a region right on the border.

"We're well below the 49th parallel down here," Samborski said, adding that her American friends are "scared" of Trump's policies.

John Ellis said he preferred Carney over the NDP, which took all but one of the seven Vancouver Island ridings in the 2021 election.

He said locals want better roads and infrastructure for booming communities, something he said the NDP were not focused on enough during the last Parliament.

"It would be nice to have somebody in Ottawa with a voice in Parliament, and we haven't had that for a very, very long time," he said.

Former environment minister Catherine McKenna was also at Sunday's rally and said she had been campaigning for local candidates at her own behest.

"I'm not running for office, but I will help anyone who runs," she said, pointing at her shirt, which read "women change politics." She said Carney is the best choice to combat climate change, despite his decision to scrap the carbon levy she spent years putting into place.

"Look, it was really hard; I'm not going to deny it," she said. "It was very divisive by the end because there was so much disinformation and misinformation by Conservatives."

McKenna said "there are lessons to be learned about how to defend policy" and to better explain the levy's rebate function, but she said the oil and gas sector must do more to tackle emissions.