How Trump’s threats have revived the Liberal Party in Canada | Global News Avenue

If you asked Canadians a few months ago that would win the next election in the country, most people would predict a decisive victory for the Conservative Party.

The results now look uncertain.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party surged in polls after U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to Canada, with their conservative rivals steadily maintaining double-digit leadership since mid-2023.

The huge changes in the country’s political landscape reflect Trump’s tariffs and his repeated calls to make Canada’s “51st Country” fundamentally change the priorities of Canadian voters.

Luc Turgeon, a professor of political science at the University of Ottawa, noted that Trump’s remarks “overturned all other issues in Canadians’ minds before the inauguration.”

It even managed to restore the once unpopular Trudeau, whose recognition rate has risen by 12 points since December. Of course, the Prime Minister will not be in power for longer after announcing his resignation at the beginning of this year.

His liberals will announce the results of the leadership contest on Sunday to determine who took over a party that is pre-critical minority government. The new leader will have two immediate decisions: how to deal with Trump’s threat and when to convene a general election. The answer to the first dilemma will definitely affect the second dilemma.

Federal elections must be held on or before October 20, but can be called as early as this week.

Polls show that many Canadians still want to make changes at the top. But what will this change look like – a liberal government under new leadership, or a complete shift to conservatives – now there are speculations.

“That’s been a blowout for the Conservatives so far,” he told the BBC.

This is because over the past few years, the centre-right party led by Pierre Poilievre has been effective in occupying Canada’s psychological problems: rising cost of living, no right to housing, crime and a tight health care system.

Poilievre succeeded in tying these social issues with issues he labeled as Trudeau’s “disastrous” policies and promised to return to “common sense politics.”

But with Trudeau’s resignation, Trump’s threat to Canada’s economic security and even its sovereignty, the message has become stale. His polls show that most people in the country are now most worried about Trump’s presidency and its impact on Canada.

Trump’s 25% tariff on all Canadian imports, some of which have been suspended until April 2, could cause devastating harm to Canada’s economy, sending three-quarters of all products to the United States. As a result, officials are expected to cause up to one million job losses, and Canada could fall into recession if taxed on goods taxes.

Trudeau undoubtedly, when he told reporters this week that the reason for U.S. tariffs—the flow of fentanyl across the border—is false, false, false, and unreasonable.

“What he wants is to see a complete collapse of the Canadian economy, because that will make it easier for us to annex us,” the prime minister warned.

Professor Turgeon told the BBC: “In many ways, this is a whole fundamental question about the survival of the country.” So who is best suited to replace Canada in the face of Trump has become a key issue in the upcoming election.

The Conservatives are still leading the polls, with the latest average showing that 40% of voters support them. Meanwhile, the fate of liberals has recovered, with their support climbing to just 30% higher – a 10-point increase from January.

Liberals try to highlight the similarities between conservative leaders and Republican presidents. During last week’s leadership debate, the candidate called Poilievre “a small version of Trump at home” and said he was seeking to “imitate” the U.S. president. Liberal Party Attack Advertising Use similar phrases to juxtapose the two clips For example, “fake news” and “radical left”.

However, there are obvious differences in style and substance between the two politicians. Trump himself understates any similarities, telling British magazine Bystander in a recent interview that Poilievre is “not Maga enough.”

Still, polls show conservative support has declined. A recent poll by national poller Angus Reid shows Canadians believe that liberal leader Mark Carney is able to deal with Trump on tariffs and trade issues, rather than Poilievre.

The former Canadian and England central bank is touting his experience in dealing with the economic crisis, including the financial collapse in 2008 and Brexit.

The shift in political sentiment forced conservatives to recalculate their messaging.

If the election is going to take place soon, the campaign will take place at the moment when Trump’s threat inspired Canadians’ intense patriotism. Many are Boycott of American goods At the local grocery store, even cancel your trip to the United States.

Professor Turgeon said this “rally around the flag” has become a key theme in Canadian politics.

The Conservatives have moved from the slogan of “Canada is broken”, which Lyle said was called “anti-love” and then “Canada first.”

The conservatives also redirected their attacks on Carney. They opened an ad before Trump’s tariffs saying he was “like Justin” trying to tie him to Trudeau. But in recent weeks, conservatives have begun to tap into Carney’s loyalty to Canada.

Specifically, they questioned whether he was transferring Brookfield Asset Management, a Canadian investment company, to New York from Toronto, when he served as chairman.

Carney replied that he had left the company when he made the decision, but company documents reported by the public broadcaster CBC showed that the board of directors still approved the move in Brookfield in October 2024.

Carney’s involvement was criticized by the editorial board of the Canadian national newspaper The Globe and Mail, which wrote Thursday that Carney must be transparent with Canadians.

The broader paper reads: “Every party leader must understand that Canada is entering a period of uncertainty. The next prime minister will have to call on Canadians to lead the country needs leadership but may not want to go.”

Mr Lyle said that given the anxiety of Canadians makes people anxious, any ambiguity about Carney’s loyalty to the country could have harmed him and the liberals.

Whenever the election comes, as long as who wins, it is certain that Trump will continue to influence and reshape Canadian politics, just like he does in the United States.