Apr 29, 2025 05:03 PM
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/donald-trump...ey-3666293
INTRO: It wasn’t just Canada’s capital-L Liberal Party lustily cheering the election of Mark Carney over his right-wing opponent, Pierre Poilievre, overnight. For this is a rare moment of elation for Donald Trump foes inside and outside of Canada.
The dapper former Bank of England governor has taken a party which had fallen out of favour with voters after three terms and in the economic doldrums to a resounding victory on the wings of anti-Trump indignation. He did so by confronting the arrogance of his mighty neighbour, in a campaign opposing the US President on tariffs – and squaring up to a repeated riff, bordering on threat, to make Canada a part of the US.
Carney – whom I have known in several of his incarnations from politics to bank governor (once in Canada, once in the UK) and climate finance guru – defies his technocratic image by being an encyclopaedic fan of The Clash. He also played the Canadian rap classic “Time to Win” at rallies.
In a period when many G7 countries have opted to play for time with the US President or, as with Keir Starmer’s government, bank on avoiding conflicts with a turbulent White House in the hope of leveraging advantages in the end, Carney opted for forthright fightback, underlining his country’s sovereignty, in several speeches. This approach gladdened a lot of hearts in Europe, too: ditch conflict-avoidance and lay out a firm, rather than squelchy, subservience.
In a quirk of political history, however, it was also Trump wot helped win it for the Liberals, who saw off a charismatic rival, Pierre Poilievre of Canada’s Conservatives, who lost his own seat in Carleton, Ontario.
Poilievre had appeared as the coming man in the age of noisy populists who channeled public resentment at out of touch elites, but found himself undermined by Trump’s barrage of social posts about Canada’s shortcomings and status. He ended up brusquely asking a US President he often resembled in style and tone to “stay out of our election”.
Relations between America and Canada are always sensitive to the relative might and size of the US. The combination of the recent tariff splurge and a campaign by Trump – partly teasing but relentless and disrespectful in the eyes of many Canadians – for them to join the US as a “cherished” 51st state sparked a backlash. This gave Carney the platform he needed to escape the pigeonhole of being too closely associated with high finance and connect with the ire of voters stirred up by tariffs and taunts... (MORE - details)
INTRO: It wasn’t just Canada’s capital-L Liberal Party lustily cheering the election of Mark Carney over his right-wing opponent, Pierre Poilievre, overnight. For this is a rare moment of elation for Donald Trump foes inside and outside of Canada.
The dapper former Bank of England governor has taken a party which had fallen out of favour with voters after three terms and in the economic doldrums to a resounding victory on the wings of anti-Trump indignation. He did so by confronting the arrogance of his mighty neighbour, in a campaign opposing the US President on tariffs – and squaring up to a repeated riff, bordering on threat, to make Canada a part of the US.
Carney – whom I have known in several of his incarnations from politics to bank governor (once in Canada, once in the UK) and climate finance guru – defies his technocratic image by being an encyclopaedic fan of The Clash. He also played the Canadian rap classic “Time to Win” at rallies.
In a period when many G7 countries have opted to play for time with the US President or, as with Keir Starmer’s government, bank on avoiding conflicts with a turbulent White House in the hope of leveraging advantages in the end, Carney opted for forthright fightback, underlining his country’s sovereignty, in several speeches. This approach gladdened a lot of hearts in Europe, too: ditch conflict-avoidance and lay out a firm, rather than squelchy, subservience.
In a quirk of political history, however, it was also Trump wot helped win it for the Liberals, who saw off a charismatic rival, Pierre Poilievre of Canada’s Conservatives, who lost his own seat in Carleton, Ontario.
Poilievre had appeared as the coming man in the age of noisy populists who channeled public resentment at out of touch elites, but found himself undermined by Trump’s barrage of social posts about Canada’s shortcomings and status. He ended up brusquely asking a US President he often resembled in style and tone to “stay out of our election”.
Relations between America and Canada are always sensitive to the relative might and size of the US. The combination of the recent tariff splurge and a campaign by Trump – partly teasing but relentless and disrespectful in the eyes of many Canadians – for them to join the US as a “cherished” 51st state sparked a backlash. This gave Carney the platform he needed to escape the pigeonhole of being too closely associated with high finance and connect with the ire of voters stirred up by tariffs and taunts... (MORE - details)
