CC-Transcript

• 00:00It’s really been about who is a leader that can push back against Donald Trump. Tell us a little bit about what’s been top of mind for Canadians. You’re absolutely right. Donald Trump has been really a main focus within the election campaign here in Canada. The tariffs, as well as his threats to make Canada the 51st state. In fact, earlier today, he posted on Twitter social once again that Canada should be the 51st state, saying that there should be no more artificially drawn line for from many years ago. And this is on Election Day that he’s making this statement. So these threats and taunts have really brought together the Canadian population, created a lot of patriotism and really shaped the messaging and the platforms of the candidates. Issues such as diversifying trade, protecting domestic industries from tariffs and military spending have really featured as major issues. As you mention, the two main candidates are Mark Carney, current prime Minister, as well as a former Bank of England and Bank of Canada governor, and the populist lifelong politician Pierre Polya, who has been a lawmaker since 2004. Pierre Paul, you have in the Conservatives argue that it is time for a change. As you mentioned, it has been ten years that the Liberals have been in power. And you know, during that time, housing affordability has really become a major issue and competitiveness and productivity have also been a challenge, and that all predates the tariffs. Meanwhile, Mark Carney is arguing that he is a steady hand, an experienced hand in a crisis. So, you know, generally speaking, we’re seeing that the conservatives are emphasizing that the private sector would be the driver of economic growth, whereas the platform for the Liberals is showing that it would more be government that could make that change happen. Is this election sort of going to be a model for other world leaders who positioned domestically against President Trump and how they deal with the tariff war? Why should the world watch this election? Yeah, absolutely. A very good question. This is the first major economy to go to the polls after April 2nd, so-called Liberation Day. And I think it’s really a chance for people to see how Trump’s isolationist policies will have an effect on other parts of the world. We have seen in Europe that standing up to Trump has produced a bump in the polls for PM Starmer in the UK, as well as President Macron in France. So here in Canada it seemed almost certain that the centre left government, the incumbents, were going to lose this election at the beginning of the year until the taunts and the tariff threat started coming from President Trump. And so really there was this sort of reversal of fortune as the Western democracies began their backlash against these threats from Trump. So it will be interesting to see. You know, there are people here in Canada, many voters are feeling this existential threat as to whether or not, you know, is Canada a country or not. And they feel that that issue is more important than some of the affordability things. But then you also have folks who are finding it difficult to pay the bills. And they see these issues as a distraction from what really matters.