By Mohamed Abdi

The trade war between the U.S. and Canada is a battleground on which the country’s biggest federal parties are fighting to win the premiership election slated for April 28, 2025. The Liberal and Conservative parties (the two biggest political parties) have dominated Canada’s political landscape for a long time, with the liberal party helming the country’s leadership for more than ninety years since its creation.

Candidacy and voting are rights enshrined in the Canadian constitution and entitled to citizens. This means that every Canadian citizen can vote and run for office to be elected. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (a part of the Constitution Act enacted in 1982) guarantees Canadian citizens the right to vote for any political party they want—be it federal, provincial, municipal, or territorial. The Charter of Rights has doubtlessly ushered in a new dawn for the country’s citizens. No guarantee of voting existed before the charter. Here is a paragraph taken from it. “Before 1982, no guarantee of voting rights existed in the Canadian constitution. It gives Canadian citizens the right to vote in federal, provincial, municipal, or territorial elections, along with the right to run for public office themselves.”

In Canada, holding a federal election to choose a prime minister cannot exceed five years. The country’s last federal election took place in September 2021. The brewing federal leadership contest between the parties revolves around pivotal issues for the citizens’ livelihood and well-being. These issues include affordability and cost of living, public safety and security, and climate change.

President Trump’s trade war with Canada is causing high inflation levels and a housing crisis.  Due to skyrocketing food prices and unaffordable houses to rent or buy, Canada has lately become one of the most expensive countries in the world to live in. For years, inflation has been rising in the country, although the year 2024 saw a bit of respite as some sources indicate. A trip to the grocery stores or shopping malls stuns residents, as everything is high-priced. Take the soaring cost of meat, for example. A kilo of meat (beef) costs between $22 and $25. The housing affordability crisis is another predicament gnawingat their souls and sanity.

Millions of Canadians are renters, struggling to keep roofs above their heads, let alone buy homes. Rising rents, skyrocketing home prices, and a growing population contribute to the housing crisis in the country. For instance, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Alberta (the fourth largest province) is around$1,529; other provinces could be higher than that; it is also costly to buy a house in Canada, as buying an average detached house is around $646,134.  

What is worsening Canada’s economy is Trump’s imposed tariffs. He has imposed 25% tariffs on goods coming from Canada and getting into his country, except for some goods with fewer tariffs, still detrimental to Canada’s economy. While Trump says the tariffs will preserve and create jobs for his country’s residents and make them richer, Canadian economists and politicians assert that his unfair tariffs will get Canada into recession and make its people poorer and poorer. Canadians averse to Trump’s politics think he reserves special hostility for Canada, and that is the reason he is imposing all those irrational tariffs.  Hence, the federal party leaders have promised to strengthen Canada’s economy and protect its sovereignty. More specifically, the liberal and conservative party leaders (Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre) are doubling down on the effects of the tariffs and Trump’s threat to make Canada his country’s 51st state.

Canadians believe if they do not stand their ground, their country will lose its sovereignty, and they are not willing to capitulate to Trump’s calls premised on making Canada the 51st state of America. That blatant annexation threat has angered Canadians and boiled their blood to an unprecedented point. And the liberal party has seized the moment and taken advantage of the president’s rhetoric. The liberal party (according to earlier polls) was far behind the conservative party, but the election race between them is getting tighter, with the liberal party a bit ahead.  According to Election Canada, about 7.3 million Canadians voted during advanced polls, and public opinion polls project that liberals will win the race. An excerpt from an article by The Economic Times magazine reads, “The Liberals, under new leader Mark Carney, are projected to secure a majority in the 2025 Canadian federal election, reversing earlier expectations of a Conservative win.”

In the effort to lessen the soaring cost of living in the country, the contending liberal and conservative parties (other Canadian parties are competing too) promise to improve public safety and security, put cups on food items, build an unprecedented number of affordable homes, and enhance the current state of the country’s universal healthcare. In retaliation of Trump’s tariffs, Mark Carney has already levied reciprocal tariffs and is promising much more to come.

Mohamed Abdi
Email: mohamedabdi203@gmail.com