Everyone acknowledges that the country will enter a new era of uncertainties and dangers due to President Trump’s threats.

On Monday, the federal legislative elections will decide Canada’s immediate future, as they will mark a new relationship with the United States and President Donald Trump. The electoral atmosphere, however, is less enthusiastic than in previous occasions.

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There are no large murals featuring the faces of political leaders, nor are there caravans of party members noisily asking for votes through the streets. The main candidates are holding only a few rallies and making public appearances in small venues.

Liberal politician Mark Carney, who lacks the charisma needed to win over the masses, leads the polls in voting intention, seeking to capitalize on his image as a competent manager based on his experience as president of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.

It is not that Canadians do not care about these elections. On the contrary, everyone acknowledges that these elections are unlike any before and that the country will enter a new era of uncertainties and dangers due to Trump’s trade war and political threats.

So far, 7.3 million citizens—equivalent to a quarter of the electoral roll—have cast their ballots five days ahead of the election, setting a record in the country’s history.

If there is one word that everyone repeats to describe the current moment, it is “fear.” Canadians fear a future marked by business bankruptcies, mass layoffs, and rising prices. The expansionist ambitions of Trump, who threatened to annex Canada to the United States, are another major source of concern.

“What awaits my little boy? The present offers me few certainties, but there is one thing I do know for sure: I’m not going to become an American!” says a young mother while strolling with her baby through Montreal.

And that feeling of fear is spreading even among residents who cannot vote because they have not lived in the country long enough to be eligible. Immigrants from Mexico, Algeria, and Haiti now fear they may not be able to complete their regularization processes in Canada.

Mark Carney’s words fuel these fears: he has promised to limit the number of permanent immigrants to below 5% and permanent residents to less than 1%.

Moreover, since mid-2024, Canada has been adjusting its immigration rules to reduce the number of temporary residents, meaning that by 2025 up to 2 million people will have to leave the country.

It is easy to wonder how this will be achieved when contemporary Canada has been built thanks to the mass immigration of Asians, North Africans, and Latin Americans, who now occupy entire neighborhoods of major cities and provide the unskilled labor force necessary for practically all sectors of the economy.

But the fear of crisis is no longer theoretical: a North African woman named Soumaya, who works in the energy sector, says that her company has begun laying off workers due to Trump’s tariff war.

She herself, currently in the process of obtaining her permanent residency permit, wonders what will become of her future after having built a life in Canada over the past eight years.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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