TORONTO — Canadians head to the polls on Monday to vote in an election that is being read by many as a referendum on the country’s relationship with the United States, after its president waged economic war and even threatened to annex its northern neighbor.

The election comes in the wake of a fatal car ramming attack on Saturday in Vancouver. The incident, which left 11 dead, led to the suspension of campaigning for several hours. Police ruled out terrorism and said they had charged a man with a history of mental health issues with murder.

The race between incumbent Liberal Mark Carney and his rival, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, has seen the Liberal leader center his campaign around the existential threat posed by US President Donald Trump.

“The Americans want to break us so they can own us,” Carney said at a rally on Friday. “Those aren't just words. That's what's at risk.”

Trump’s re-election and his waging of economic war have proved a boon for the party, with his belligerent rhetoric towards Canada triggering outrage among voters and putting the Conservative candidate, who has been likened to the US president over his populist style, at a disadvantage.

President Justin Trudeau’s resignation and Trump’s trade war marked a distinct reversal of fortunes for the parties, with support for the Conservatives sinking while voters increasingly appeared to back the Liberals, who had previously appeared set for a historic defeat.

Carney, a former central banker, won the party leadership vote by a landslide.

The Conservatives had hoped to capitalize on Trudeau’s unpopularity and the country’s long-standing cost of living crisis, but Trump instead became the dominant issue.

Canadians have boycotted American goods, and travel to the US has plummeted as the US president waged a trade war that has led Ottawa to impose countermeasures on Washington. More than 7.3 million Canadians voted early in Monday’s poll, breaking records.

Both candidates have vowed to renegotiate a free trade deal between Canada and the US, to whom 75% of the country’s exports go.

Trump last week reiterated threats to Canadian sovereignty, saying Canada “would cease to exist as a country” if the US stopped buying its goods.

The issue was also returned to at the weekend, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked whether Trump wants to annex Canada. He told NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker: “I think the president has stated repeatedly he thinks Canada would be better off as a state.”

Carney asked voters to hand him a strong mandate to tackle the US president’s threats to Canada’s sovereignty. “President Trump has some obsessive ideas, and that is one,” Carney said.

“It’s not a joke. It’s his very strong desire to make this happen. It’s one of the reasons why this crisis is so serious.” — Euronews