From: Pierre J. <pierrej@torontosun.com>
Newsgroups: alt.politics.trump,alt.politics.republicans,sac.politics,can.politics,alt.fan.rush-limbaugh,talk.politics.guns
Subject: Trump re-emerges as a factor in Canada election as polls tighten
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2025 06:01:32 -0000 (UTC)
Organization: Victor Usenet Postings
PORT MOODY, British Columbia, April 24 (Reuters) - Donald Trump
re-emerged as a factor in Canada's election campaign on Thursday, days
before a vote that Prime Minister Mark Carney says will determine how
Ottawa can best stand up to the U.S. President.
Carney launched the race last month, calling for a strong mandate to
deal with Trump's tariffs and his stated desire to turn Canada into the
51st state. The ruling Liberals had a healthy lead but polls showed the
advantage gradually shrinking in recent days as Trump kept silent on
Canada and voters' focus appeared to shift back towards concerns about
high living costs.
On Wednesday, however, Trump declared the United States did not need
Canadian-made autos and said he might increase tariffs on vehicles
imported from Canada.
"President Trump repeated his attacks on Canada. He said he doesn't want
Canada to play any part in the North American auto industry," Carney
told a campaign event in Port Moody, British Columbia.
"So, I will be equally clear: this is Canada - we decide what happens
here. Yesterday was more proof that the old relationship with the United
States is over," he said.
Carney is promising to spend tens of billions of dollars to help reduce
the country's reliance on the United States, which takes 75% of all
Canadian exports.
The Liberals are still in the lead ahead of Monday's election but the
gap with the opposition Conservatives is tightening, a rolling three-day
poll showed on Thursday.
The Liberals hold 42.9% support, followed by Pierre Poilievre's
Conservatives at 39.3% and the New Democratic Party at 7.2%, according
to the CTV News-Globe and Mail-Nanos poll.
The 3.6-point gap between the two leading parties as of Wednesday
compares with a 5.6-point Liberal lead over the Conservatives in the
same poll a day earlier.
Such a result on Election Day would produce a fourth consecutive Liberal
mandate but Carney might only win a minority of seats, leaving him
reliant on smaller parties to govern.
Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at University of
Manitoba, said voters' focus might be shifting back to high prices,
crime and a housing crisis, which have been the centrepieces of the
Conservative campaign.
"We can't afford a fourth Liberal term of rising costs and crime,"
Poilievre told reporters in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Thursday, pledging
to scrap electric-vehicle sales mandates.
Liberal support is typically more efficiently distributed across Canada,
resulting in more parliamentary seats. The Conservatives tend to win by
large margins in rural areas with fewer seats.
Carney remains the preferred choice as prime minister, but Poilievre is
narrowing that gap, Nanos said. It surveyed 1,307 Canadians from April
21 to 23, and the poll is considered accurate plus or minus 2.7
percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
An Abacus Data poll on Wednesday placed the Liberals at 40% support
among decided voters, with the Conservatives at 37%. Abacus said
Liberals' share of support was unchanged from last week, while the
Conservatives were down one point.
The poll was conducted among 2,000 eligible voters from April 18 to 21
and the margin of error is 2.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-election-race-tightens-cons
ervatives-narrow-gap-with-liberals-poll-says-2025-04-24/