Leaders for the 5 main parties pitch why they should be prime minister

The race to choose Canada's next prime minister began Sunday with each of the main party leaders making their pitch for why they are uniquely qualified to lead the country through a crisis. 

The first day of the campaign gave them the opportunity to tell Canadians a bit about their background and values — and how that dovetails with the crisis the country is facing. 

That crisis: the political, economic and existential threat posed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. 

Here is a look at how each of the leaders for the Liberals, Conservatives, New Democrats, Bloc Québécois and Green Party kicked off their campaigns.

For Carney, the big pitch is that he is the person to not only tackle Trump, but also to refocus the economy and make life easier for Canadians. 

"We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump's unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty," Carney said on the steps of Rideau Hall in Ottawa after asking Gov. Gen. Mary Simon to dissolve Parliament. 

"Our response must be to build a strong economy and a more secure Canada," he said. "Trump claims that Canada isn't a real country. He wants to break us so America can own us. We will not let that happen." 

Carney then leaned in to his love of country, saying Canada "has given me everything" and he's in the race "because I want to give it all back to Canada."

Then the Liberal leader looked to his closest competition, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, to make the argument that the Tory leader isn't the one to stand up to Trump or make life more affordable for Canadians.  

"It's easy to be negative about everything when you've never built anything, when you've never had to make a payroll," he said. "But negative slogans aren't solutions. Anger isn't action. Division isn't strength. Negativity won't win a trade war.

"Negativity won't pay the rent or the mortgage. Negativity won't bring down the price of groceries and negativity won't make Canada strong," Carney said. 

For Poilievre, the pitch is that the Conservative leader and not the Liberals are the ones to tackle Trump, slumping economic growth and affordability. 

"The Liberals are asking for a fourth term in power after swapping Justin Trudeau for his economic adviser and handpicked successor Mark Carney," Poilievre said in Ottawa at the top of his first election speech. 

"But after the lost Liberal decade, the question is whether Canadians can afford a fourth Liberal term," he added.