Americans visiting Toronto are sometimes disappointed that their trip across an international border doesn’t feel like they’ve escaped to another country. Whether they’re navigating the crawl of traffic in the downtown core of Canada’s most populous city or its bland suburbs, the occasional maple leaf flag and French signage are often the only giveaways.
Advertisement
That’s why United States President Donald Trump might have thought his aggressive brand of politics would naturally carry across the border, drive a final nail into the coffin of Liberal Party leadership and get a substantial portion of the population to respond positively to his threat to make Canada America’s 51st state.
Trump’s constant belittlement of then Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau after the US election did little to slow the former Liberal leader’s political demise and may have even hastened it.
But what was initially perceived as political theatre has morphed into genuine concern about Trump’s determination to follow through with grave threats against Washington’s closest allies. Against the background of his willingness to twist history by portraying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as an aggressor, the realisation has apparently sunk in among Canadians that Trump might not rule out dealing with Ottawa as Russian President Vladimir Putin has dealt with Kyiv.
Polling suggests that Trump’s attacks on Canada have revived the prospects for the Liberals, which, until just a few weeks ago, was facing a bruising loss to the opposition Conservative Party in the next federal election.
Advertisement
According to Canadian polling firm Pollara, Mark Carney began his tenure as Canada’s prime minister last week “with a big brand advantage” over Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to dealing with Trump. When Pollara asked “Who do you trust to deal with Donald Trump?”, 47 per cent of the more than 1,500 adult Canadians said they trusted Carney, compared with 33 per cent for Poilievre.
