Canada Heads to the Polls Amid Rising Nationalism and Trump Tensions

By Staff, Agencies

Canadians will head to the polls on Monday in a pivotal election heavily shaped by US President Donald Trump's recent actions and rhetoric.

At the start of the year, the Conservatives seemed poised for a landslide victory, but Trump's tariffs and provocative remarks about making Canada the "51^st state" revitalized support for Mark Carney’s Liberal Party.

Final polls show the Liberals holding a slight lead, though the race has tightened significantly in the past week. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre insists his party can still secure a win.

The campaign ended under a cloud of grief following a Saturday night car-ramming attack in Vancouver that killed 11 people. Carney canceled a scheduled appearance in Hamilton to address the nation, while Poilievre added a stop in Mississauga to meet with the Filipino community, many of whom were affected by the attack.

In a final push, Carney campaigned across Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia, aiming to sway voters in Conservative-leaning regions. Meanwhile, Poilievre focused on Ontario, Canada's most populous province with 122 parliamentary seats, where the Conservatives are slightly behind.

Throughout the campaign, Trump's trade war and annexation threats stoked nationalist sentiments, with public displays of anger like booing the US “national” anthem at hockey games. Trump became a defining issue of the campaign, turning the election into what many see as a referendum on how Canada should confront its increasingly hostile southern neighbor.

Carney, 60, emphasized his credentials as a former central banker during global crises, presenting himself as best suited to steer Canada through these turbulent times. He argued for stronger ties with allies like the UK and EU, warning that the longstanding US-Canada relationship was effectively over.

Poilievre, on the other hand, campaigned heavily on issues of affordability, high housing costs, and crime, framing the election as an opportunity to end what he termed the "lost Liberal decade" following Justin Trudeau’s resignation earlier this year.

Smaller parties struggled to gain ground in a race dominated by the Liberals and Conservatives. The NDP, led by Jagmeet Singh, risks losing seats as it lags behind the Bloc Québécois in Quebec. Singh, emotionally shaken, canceled events after narrowly avoiding the Vancouver attack, which occurred shortly after he attended the same festival.

The Bloc Québécois also faced challenges, as Trump's aggressive posture towards Canada pushed many voters back toward the two dominant federal parties.

Despite his influence over the election’s atmosphere, Trump has refrained from commenting directly on the Canadian race. However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated on Sunday that Trump believes "Canada would be better off as a state."

Polls will open Monday morning in Newfoundland and Labrador and close across six time zones, with final ballots cast in British Columbia late Monday night. More than 7 million Canadians have already voted early, setting a record for advance voting.