Changes to carbon tax and Trump's tariffs threats may impact Canadian election. File Photo/CHAT News

By Brian Konrad

CANADA VOTES

U.S. tariffs and carbon tax promises may impact Conservative election strategy, observer says

Feb 5, 2025 | 12:28 PM

A Medicine Hat-based political consultant says Canada’s political landscape may have been altered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs threats.

Jim Groom said Wednesday the threat of the tariffs has led to new feelings of patriotism and may allow the federal Liberals to link Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre as another right-of-centre politician like Trump.

“That seem’s to be the topic of the day now, how are we going to deal with this external threat,” says Groom.

Groom said the threat of tariffs has galvanized the country and Canadians are showing some backbone and “it’ll be interesting to see how Poilievre deals with it.”

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The resignation of Liberal leader Justin Trudeau and a Liberal leadership campaign could also affect the Conservative strategy going forward.

Poilievre has been calling for a “carbon tax election” for some time, but with the leading Liberal candidates promising to “Axe the Tax”, Groom says the Conservatives main talking point may need to change.

“Pierre Poilievre has spent a lot of time discrediting Justin Trudeau and basing a lot of the future on an Axe the Tax election and all of that has been changed and he’s walking on quicksand as it’s all been undermined beneath him,” Groom told CHAT News.

As for calls for Canada to become the 51st state, Groom doubts that Trump’s MAGA base would want that, as his supporters view Canada as a socialist bastion and wouldn’t want to affect voting in the Electoral College.