Federal Liberals pull out Trump card to counter Poilievre

Photo: Graham Hughes The Canadian Press/Dave Chidley The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (left) has been lagging in the polls for several months. Like his deputies, he takes aim at Mr. Poilievre (right), accusing him of wanting to imitate Donald Trump's campaign model.

Mickey Djuric – The Canadian Press in Ottawa

January 20, 2024

• Canada

The increasingly likely candidacy of Donald Trump in the American election in November 2024 allows the federal liberals to use the former president as a scarecrow against Pierre Poilievre's conservatives.

Federal Liberal MPs have been attacking their conservative adversaries for months, accusing them of adopting a political style reminiscent of the populists south of the border. They even call Pierre Poilievre “Northern Trump.”

For conservatives, liberals are trying to distract people from affordability issues by spreading old clichés.

Liberals counter by saying the stakes are much higher.

They say they want to protect Canada against the far-right wave that is hitting other democratic countries. These populists are harming the recognition of LGBTQ+ rights and the fight against climate change.

The co-chair of the national campaign of the Liberal Party of Canada, the MP for Hochelaga, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, recognizes that the population is nervous and frustrated with the high price of food and the lack of affordable housing. She deplores that conservatives use these feelings in the style of Donald Trump.

“We use tactics aimed at polarizing emotions in order to present facts that feed our own ideology and infiltrate fear into people’s minds,” says the woman who is also Minister of Tourism. This is how they want to conduct politics, it’s something new in Canada. And this doesn't just come from the United States, we also see it in other countries. That's what's different these days. »

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been lagging behind in the polls for several months. Like his deputies, he takes potshots at Mr. Poilievre, accusing him of wanting to imitate Donald Trump's campaign model.

Mr. Trudeau notably attempts to link issues like the ban on abortion and the rollback of transgender rights to conservatives.

“You might think that this will never happen in Canada, that it is the Liberals who are trying to scare the world, as usual. I'm sorry, but this wasn't supposed to happen in the United States either, but it happened because of conservatism [linked to Mr. Trump]. The threat is real,” he declared during an end-of-year interview with The Canadian Press.

Sebastian Skamski, a spokesman for Pierre Poilievre, says Mr. Trudeau and the Liberals are desperately trying to distract the electorate “from the misery and suffering” they have inflicted over the past eight years.

“With millions of Canadians relying on food banks and more and more middle-class people at risk of losing their homes, it's no surprise to hear the Liberals make ridiculous claims in a desperate effort to to divide Canadians. They hope that people will forget their suffering,” Mr. Skamski said.

Alex Marland, a political science professor at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, says the Liberals are trying to boil down the political debate to a choice between good and evil.

“They are targeting people who voted for them in the past, but who are fed up with it,” he points out. They try to convince them to come back home. One way to do this is to dissuade them from voting for the Conservatives by scaring them. »