Whatever Trump meant when he told interviewers, “I run the country and the world,” Canadians have given the truth to the statement in a sharpish way. Until Trump returned to the White House in Jan, Canadians were set to throw out the Liberals and vote in the Conservatives. A solid anti-incumbency had built up against the Liberals after a decade in govt. That mood got reflected in Trudeau’s exit, for example. But then, drumrolls, enter The Don, declaring he wants to turn Canada into the 51st state of America, topping up the annexation threats with yuge tariffs. Poor Pierre Poilievre has paid the heaviest price. His Conservatives’ authoritative 25-point lead collapsed to nada within four months and he’s even lost his own seat.
This is a sentiment seen in India too, that the country unites in the face of an outside enemy. Canada has united against what’s widely seen as Trump’s bullying. Its identity has been as a friend of America but also emphatically as non-America. To be kicked in its teeth by a neighbour it’s always supported, for no rhyme or reason that anybody can sensibly explain, has united the country, collapsed support for the smaller parties, and all the advantage has swung to the Liberal Party. Because its post-Trudeau face Mark Carney has gone all out to defend Canada from Trump with vim and vigour.
Cometh the hour cometh the man. Carney had never before fought an election but he’s been the governor of Bank of Canada and even Bank of England. What’s also notable from New Delhi’s point of view is that NDP vote share has collapsed and its chief Jagmeet Singh has lost his seat. It will likely find doing business with this Canadian govt to be much more pleasant than in the Trudeau era.
This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.
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