Canada: Trump’s US tariffs dominate parliamentary choice

High turnout

How Trump strengthens the liberals in Canada

Trump’s customs policy dominates the choice between the liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney and challenger Pierre Poilievre. Only one region is surprising.

The first results are expected on Tuesday night. But the election campaign went differently than planned. Donald Trump’s customs policy was suddenly the defining topic. Trump also played with annexation plans. “Canada should be our 51st state,” said Trump. A look at the election campaign, the favorites and the risks of a liberal election victory.

Mark Carney, 60, Prime Minister of Canada since March of this year. At that time, the liberale replaced the hapless Justin Trudeau as head of government. The choice actually seemed long. The right zeitgeist also seemed to be overlooked on Canada. Carney and his liberal were long behind in surveys.

But then Trump came, only imposed punitive tariffs (which he later exposed again) and then dreamed of interconnecting Canada to the USA. Carney and his liberals had already found their topic.

“Canada is not for sale,” said Carney Trump. As a result, he liked to show himself with an ice hockey jersey and number 24. “I would like to stay the 24th head of government of a free Canada,” explained Carney.

The man can crisis. He was Central Bank boss Canada and switched to the Bank of England in the same function in 2013. As the British central bank boss, he headed Great Britain through the wild Brexit years. Carney formed the resting pole in a country with rapidly changing heads of government and a leafy Boris Johnson.

He has also been giving the calm crisis manager in Canada since March. The economic expertise provides the banker an additional plus in economically restless times with customs conflicts and trembling share prices. Carney is an easy favorite in surveys. His most important campaign helper: Donald Trump.

Pierre Poilievres, 45, leads Conservatives into the choice. His biography is remarkable. Poilievres was born as a child of a 16-year-old teenager. The mother released him for adoption, as did his half -brother later. Both grew up with a teacher couple whose family names they also accepted.

Poilievres studied international relations in Calgary and later founded a company for political advice. At Canada’s conservatives, he quickly made a career. His program: libertarian – tax cut, law and order. “Kill the Crime” was a catchphrase – kills the crime. “Ax the Tax” – freely translated: ax to taxes – another. This gave him a high in the surveys.

This is also why the liberal ruling party reacted in March and changed Trudeau against Carney.

But the coordination on Monday is more than one choice between Carney and Poilievres. In the Alberta region, it is also a bit about unity. Alberta delivers 56 percent of all US oil imports and is the richest province of Canada in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The area on the border with the USA is something like Texas Canada and strongly conservative. The liberal government in Ottawa and her climate policy are hated in Alberta.