Trump threats dominate liberal discussions on leadership in Canada

Candidates who faced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada faced each other on Monday in a French language discussion.

The stage was shared by four hopes: former governor of Canada and England, Mark Carney, former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, leader of the Liberal Government House Karina Gould, and former and former MP Frank Baylis.

The question of how to deal with Donald Trump was dominated in the first half, since the US president has repeatedly threatened to be tariff Canada and make it “51.”

Candidates also answered questions about domestic issues such as immigration, health care and high living costs.

At the beginning of the discussion, Freeland – whose resignation as a finance minister in December launched the collapse of Trudeauu’s leadership – said Trump has been “the biggest threat to Canada since World War II.”

He often dealt with her experience in the Government, saying that she successfully faced Trump during his first term when she helped to deliver a long -standing North America Agreement.

But Freeland warned that Trump’s second term could be worse for Canada.

“He wants to turn Canada into 51 states and that’s not a joke,” she said. “Therefore, he supports (Russian president), the criminal attempt by Vladimir Putin to draw the border of Ukraine.”

“Trump wants to draw our boundaries,” Freeland said.

To counteract these threats, Freeland and other candidates suggested to strengthen trade relations with the EU and the UK.

Baylis suggested a “new economic block” consisting of Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia, noting that all four countries shared the same values, culture and management systems.

Carney, who is a leader at the polls, focused his message on helping Canada in achieving economic prosperity. He suggested that he used his resources, including critical minerals and metals, as well as to make Canada “superpower pure energy” and remove trade barriers between the provinces.

And he agreed with Freeland that Trump’s second term is different from the first.

“He’s more isolationist. He’s more aggressive,” Carney said. “In the past he wanted our markets. Now he wants our country.”

He added that he would advocate to impose a dollar dollar tariff to the US, if Trump moves forward with his threat that he would charge a 25% tax on all Canadian goods starting on March 4.

Gould, the youngest candidate on stage, positioned himself as a candidate “for today and the future”, with a message involved in how the liberal party under her leadership will act to make life more accessible to Canadians.

The candidates also dealt with the transfer of American politics to Ukraine. As four discussed, Trudeau was in Kiyiv three years since the war of Russia-Ukrain began.

All four candidates agreed that Canada should continue to support Ukraine. Freeland suggested that money seized from Russia through sanctions be redistributed to help Ukrainian war effort, while Carney stated that every discussion of the future of Ukraine could not happen without the Ukrainians at the table.

Freeland also suggested that Canada needs to encourage closer relationships with Denmark, which, she noted. He also faced Trump’s threats that signaled his desire to take over Greenland – a Danish territory.

In the second half of the discussion, candidates offered their ideas to help Canada to reduce their federal budget deficit, resolve the crime and increase military consumption.

They were also asked about climate change, and Freeland and Carney said they no longer supported the carbon tax on consumers – the key climate policy of Vlad Trudeau, which became unpopular with Canadians.

At certain moments, the candidates also focused on the leader of the conservative party Pierre Poilievre, saying that they would be ineligible for the defense of Canada against Trump.

Poilievre is currently leading to national polls, although the gap between him and the Liberal Party has narrowed away from Trudeau’s resignation. The conservative leader has since focused his attacks on Carney, claiming that the liberal party under his leadership will not differ from the one under Trudeau.

The discussion on Monday is the first of two, with the second discussion in English for Tuesday. Members of the Liberal Party will vote for their next leader on March 9, after which it is expected to go to Trudeau.

Discussion of French is especially important for the Francophone Canadians in Quebec, whose voices have influenced in helping deciding which the party will form the next Canada government.

Whoever was elected leader would become the next prime minister of Canada until the following general elections, which must be held on October 20th.