If there were any lingering doubts about the direction of the ballot box question in Canada, President Donald Trump put them to rest on Wednesday with his latest round of global tariffs.
While Canada and Mexico seemed to dodge the worst of the impact, the Canadian economy still faces significant consequences. Sectors like steel and aluminum, along with the recent 25 per cent tariff on foreign automobiles, could lead to layoffs, higher prices, and a slowdown in foreign investments. These are the immediate effects, but they don’t fully capture the far-reaching consequences of disrupting the auto supply chain, and the cost that consumers and businesses will inevitably pay for goods and services where no Canadian alternative exists.
In typical fashion, Trump also left hanging the threat of sectoral tariffs to come on Canadian pharmaceuticals, lumber and semiconductors. The war has just begun.
As was the case during the pandemic, this election is anything but usual. In 2021, the existential threat to the country was a faceless, invisible virus that drove a third-wave in the middle of the campaign. Hospitalizations increased and restrictions that had been removed were put back in place.
The series of events kneecapped the ability of political parties to talk past the issue. Swap out the existential crisis of the pandemic with Trump’s tariff threats and we find ourselves in an eerily similar situation.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney has already spent two days of the first two weeks in Ottawa, suspending campaign efforts to focus efforts on Canada-U.S. relations. This has served a dual purpose: communicate directly to Trump and show that Canadians won’t back down in the face of crippling tariffs, while using the prime minister’s podium to convey confidence to an electorate that is anxious and primed to vote for the party best positioned to stand up to Trump.
Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre used a Toronto keynote address on Wednesday to lay out the Conservative plan to introduce reciprocal tariffs against the U.S., while gearing towards accelerating renegotiations to replace the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement. He also shared his vision for bolstering Canadian industry, cutting taxes, and accelerating major projects.
Poilievre’s response underscores his keen awareness of voter anxieties, positioning him as a credible alternative to the Liberals in standing up to Trump. He also understands that in order to become a nation that can stand up for itself, it must remove the barriers that have kept resources in the ground and hampered industry through regulation and red tape.
Voters may be focused on Trump now, but there is an election happening that is a far cry from a foreign policy battle and words matter now, more than ever. Poilievre was right to seize on the need to confront the systematic barriers that have long hindered Canada’s economic potential, and voters should be asking themselves which party leader is best positioned to chart a path toward long-term prosperity and self-reliance.
Josie Sabatino is a Senior Consultant at Summa Strategies, focused on providing strategic insight and helping clients meet their objectives in an ever changing and complex political and regulatory environment. Prior to joining Summa, Josie spent nearly a decade in political communications and most recently served as the Director of Communications to the Hon. Erin O’Toole, former Leader of the Official Opposition.
