Canadian Liberals Win Bigly!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

After just ninety-nine days of  Trump threats against the Canadian economy (through his highly erratic tariff's  program) and its sovereignty (through threats of annexation to the US), the people of Canada finally had their say yesterday, and it was, as many knew it would be, a big, one-fingered salute to Donald John Trump.

Trump, who just this week was quoted in an interview in The Atlantic with reporters Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, as saying, after noting difficulties he encountered during his first term in office:   "And the second time, I run the country and the world."

Canada would beg to differ.

The leader of Canada, the Prime Minister, is elected by the parliament and based on a political party system.  The two major parties in Canada are the Conservatives and the Liberals, along with a few minor parties.  When a national election is held, people go to the polls to elect members to Parliament, and not the Prime Minister, and then whichever party wins the majority of the seats in parliament chooses its leader to be the Prime Minister.  If neither party has elected a majority to the parliament,  brokering ensues in which the leading parties try to align the support of the minor parties.

The last conservative Prime Minister of Canada was Steven Harper who left office in 2015.  His replacement, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau, was serving his third term as Prime Minister when he announced his resignation earlier this year.  Trudeau resigned due to growing dissatisfaction among Canadian voters with the economy and with him personally, and he was replaced as leader of the party and as Prime Minister by a neophyte politician and former banker by the name of Mark Carney.  Carney called for a national election early on to solidify his position as the nation's leader.

Three months ago few thought that would happen.  Liberals were trailing in the polls by big numbers.  But with the unpopular Trudeau's resignation, followed by Donald Trump's big winds from south of the Canadian-US border, the Liberal Party suddenly began gaining ground.  Trump's on-again-off-again fluctuating tariffs left the Canadian economy in a state of flux and Canadian consumers (and voters) deeply unsettled toward the US.  But perhaps equally as damaging to Canadian and US relations were Trump's wild statements about wanting to annex Canada and make it our 51st state.  Trump's windbaggery did not sit well with our neighbors to the north.

Canadian tourism to the US has dropped significantly over the last couple of months, and at one point during the Canadian campaign, Prime Minister Carney described the United States as no longer being a "reliable partner."

The Conservatives had planned to win yesterday's election, and it looked that would happen.  But all the interference from the blowhard conservative south of the border soured Canadians on the conservative brand, and yesterday the Canadian Liberals won their fourth national contest in a row - and they absolutely have Donald Trump to thank for it.

US Representative Don Bacon, a Republican from the state of Nebraska, said of Trump after the Canadian election results had come in:  "He made Canadian Liberals great again."

Zing!