Canada: An Election Dominated by Trump

Canadians gave Donald Trump a thumbs down by voting for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party, which got a fresh lease on life thanks to the US president’s trade war and repeated threats to annexe the country and make it the 51^st state of America.

Carney, who replaced former liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, took a chance by calling for early elections. The Liberals must thank Trump for this remarkable turnaround of their fortunes, considering that the party was in the doldrums under Trudeau.

The liberal parties’ failures were swept under the carpet as Donald Trump dominated the campaign. Carney said in his victory speech that “Donald Trump wants to break us so America can own us… They want our resources, they want our water, they want our land, they want our country. They can’t have it.”

This was Carney’s main focus during his short month-long election campaign.

The nationalist fervour that gripped Canada, especially after Trump’s tariffs and his constant jibes at the neighbouring country, helped the sitting prime minister.

After his victory, Carney took a pot shot at Trump, saying Canadians would now have to “build, baby build,” a reference to Trump’s frequent exhortation to Americans to dig for oil and minerals across the country, something the Biden administration had attempted to stop because of the negative impact on the environment.

Trump immediately reversed the order, much to the delight of the oil and mining lobbies. “Dig, baby dig” was Trump’s war cry even during his inauguration address, as he believes that climate change is a Chinese hoax.

Carney, an economist and former governor of both the central banks of Canada and the UK, is regarded by a majority of Canadians to be the best man to deal with trade and financial matters, more so since Trump unleashed his tariff furore on Canada.

The Prime Minister is a political novice, and had never held elected office, till he came into the limelight following former Justin Trudeau’s resignation in January 2025.

But once he took office, he was able to turn Trump’s constant jibes into an effective campaign plank.

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Before Trump was elected, all opinion polls had projected a Conservative party win, with Pierre Poilievre, slated as the next Prime Minister.

Trump spoiled the party for Poilievre, who in his speech after conceding defeat said “hard lessons have been learnt.” However, the Conservatives have won a large number of seats and can function as an effective opposition.

Unlike his rival Carney, the Conservative leader did not place Trump at the centre of his campaign. Instead, he emphasised on the long list of failures of the previous Trudeau era, including an acute housing shortage in the country and rising inflation.

The average home price in Canada had steadily risen since 2015 to arrive at 70 per cent since 2022. The high housing cost severely dented the image of the Liberal party under Justin Trudeau.

But in the surcharged atmosphere following Trump’s swearing-in, these issues, while important, were not the primary concern of voters.

Trump’s action that shocked Canadians became the rallying point of Carney’s voters. One of the new Prime Minister’s first task would be to rebuild relations with the US with a new economic and security pact.

India-Canada Ties And The Khalistan Angle

Justin Trudeau, the poster boy of the liberals, was bad news for India. New Delhi was looking forward to a Conservative win, however, the Liberal Party minus the former PM is more acceptable to India.

Trudeau’s support base among Canadian-Sikhs induced him to often make pro-Khalistan remarks. While the Khalistan movement is long dead in India, it is kept alive by pro-Khalistani supporters scattered across the world, particularly in Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia.

As Canadian Sikhs play an important role in that country’s politics, they are much more influential than those living in other countries. Justin Trudeau played the Sikh card to the hilt during his last term in office, as his popularity among a majority of Canadians was hitting rock bottom. He began relying more and more on the leaders of the Sikh Community.

It is not as if all Canadian Sikhs are supporters of Khalistan. But with a large number of gurdwaras under the control of Khalistani separatists, many ordinary Sikhs who frequent the gurdwara are influenced by what they hear.

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But things took a turn for the worse, after Trudeau accused India of direct involvement in shooting dead Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani activist.

He was shot dead by masked gunmen in a Vancouver suburb in June 2023. Delhi denied the allegations. But the diplomatic spat that started with the killing continued to plague relations with both countries expelling each other’s diplomats.

Later, a Canadian Commission looking into the killings ruled out a definitive link with any foreign country. But the damage was already done.

India was happy to see the last of Justin Trudeau. New Delhi and Ottawa will now start on a clean slate under Carney.

As Carney has got support from across the country, it is unlikely that he will be dependent on the Khalistani lobby for staying in power. India is looking forward to a more wholesome relationship with Carney