TORONTO >> Mark Carney’s political career is only months old, and it’s already been a roller-coaster ride. The former central banker appeared destined to become one of Canada’s shortest-serving prime ministers until U.S. President Donald Trump picked a fight with the neighboring country.

Carney, sworn in March 14 following Justin Trudeau’s resignation and a Liberal Party leadership race, now leads in the polls heading into the April 28 parliamentary election, marking a dramatic turnaround for a party that seemed destined for a crushing defeat until Trump started attacking Canada’s economy and sovereignty almost daily.

Trump’s trade war and threats to make Canada the 51st U.S. state have infuriated Canadians and led to a surge in nationalism that has helped the Liberals flip the election narrative.

In a mid-January poll by Nanos, Liberals trailed the Conservative Party by 47% to 20%. In the latest Nanos poll, which was conducted during a three-day period that ended Sunday, the Liberals led by eight percentage points. The January poll had a margin of error 3.1 points, while the latest poll had a 2.7-point error margin.

“Timing is everything in politics, and Carney entered the political arena at a most favorable time,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.

Carney’s opponent is Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, a career politician and firebrand populist who has campaigned with Trump-like swagger, even taking a page from the “America First” president by adopting the slogan “Canada First.”

“This election is a test about whether Canada will embrace or reject populism,” Béland said, suggesting many voters view Carney as reassuring because of his experience and calm.

“Without the Trump effect, the Conservatives would probably be in a much stronger position in the polls right now,” he said.

“If Trump wasn’t currently in the White House, it would be hard to imagine the Liberals being the favorites in this federal race, considering how unpopular they were just a few months ago.”Carney navigated crises when he ran Canada’s central bank and when he later became the first non-U.K. citizen to run the Bank of England since its founding in 1694.

His Bank of England appointment won bipartisan praise in the United Kingdom, after Canada recovered from the 2008 financial crisis faster than many other countries.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson called it “extraordinary” that a country would choose a foreigner to head its central bank, and that it’s a mark of how admired Carney is. “He is calm and cool in a crisis,” Paulson said. “He’s a clear thinker and he understands finance cold. He’s very well prepared.”

Carney, 60, is credited with keeping money flowing through the Canadian economy by acting quickly in cutting interest rates to their lowest level, working with bankers to sustain lending through the financial crisis and, critically, letting the public know that rates would remain low so they would keep borrowing.

He was the first central banker to commit to keeping them at a historic-low level for a definite time — a step the U.S. Federal Reserve would follow.