One of Canada’s first financial moves under Mark Carney was to sell off American dollars in a Canadian government bond offering. Donald Trump has met his match.
By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on March 24, 2025.
OTTAWA—Trump is rooting for Carney. Who would believe it?
Nobody. The notion that the president of the United States would support the leader of a party he has been insulting and demeaning, is as believable as his claim that he won the 2020 election.
Donald Trump has spent the first two months of his term in office trashing the Liberal government and threatening the country with economic takeover.
Donald Trump has spent the first two months of his term in office trashing the Liberal government and threatening the country with economic takeover.
The interview given by the president in which he states he would rather deal with Liberals because the Conservative leader said bad things about him is simply another of Trump’s multiple contradictory positions.
Pierre Poilievre jumped on the statement, claiming that he is the strong Canadian leader to fight the constant flow of attacks from the president.
But he will have a tough time convincing most Canadians of that, since his whole career has been based on copying the messaging and governing approaches of Trump.
Just last week, Poilievre announced he would break a longstanding tradition, by kicking journalists off his campaign plane during the upcoming election.
Poilievre barring reporters from his aircraft is akin to Trump’s decision to eject legitimate journalists from the White House briefings and replace them with so-called social media journalists.
One of those newbies posed a ridiculous question on Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s clothing choices during the recent disastrous meeting with the Ukrainian president.
Poilievre supporters regularly denigrate the Canadian mainstream media, labelling them as legacy journalists with whom the Conservative leader refuses to engage.
CBC’s Rosemary Barton is constantly reaching out on social media simply asking for an interview with the leader of the official opposition.
Poilievre has also recently released details on his party’s position to cancel foreign aid in favour of military reinvestment.
That is the same position taken by Trump, who authorized Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency to eliminate international aid.
That cancellation was questioned last week in a Federal Court judgment ruling that the dismantling of USAID was likely unconstitutional.
It is unclear whether the White House will even heed this court ruling as Trump has pushed back against another court ruling opposing the mass deportations being carried out under government orders.
The chief judge of the American Supreme Court issued a video warning to the president, after Trump threatened a judge with impeachment because of a ruling.
Last week, Poilievre repeated his promise that he would have no problem firing the governor of the Bank of Canada.
Poilievre refuses to accept the independence of those responsible for Canada’s monetary policy just as Trump threatens the independence of the judicial system.
Some believe that Trump’s comments were specifically intended to help the Conservative leader, but the presidential tirade was more likely directed against Poilievre’s negative commentary on Trump.
“The Conservative that’s running is stupidly no friend of mine. I don’t know but he said negative things. So when he says negative things, I couldn’t care less. … It is easier to deal actually with a Liberal. And maybe they’re going to win, but I don’t really care.” Trump said in an interview on Fox News.
Poilievre jumped on the attack saying,
“It’s true. I am a strong leader. I am a tough guy to deal with….By contrast the Liberals…have driven a half trillion dollars of investment to the U.S.”
Poilievre’s pro-Canada positioning is relatively new. He has spent most of his time in opposition saying Canada is broken because of the tax policies of former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
Now Trudeau is gone, the carbon pricing is gone, and Poilievre is trying to pivot into a posture as the strong man for Canada.
Trump’s declaration will definitely soften the MAGA edges that have been dogging Poilievre.
If the ballot question in the election is “who is best prepared to deal with an erratic American bent on annexing Canada,” current polls place Prime Minister Mark Carney in first place.
Trump could be blamed for the turnaround.
In an unprecedented political comeback, the Liberal Party has reached polling parity with the Conservatives since the election of Carney.
Trump is not oblivious to the astonishing political upswing of the Liberals.
He must be steaming that Carney’s first international trip was to Europe, not Mar-a-Lago. Carney also managed to purchase an Australian early warning radar system that was supposed to be destined for the United States.
One of Canada’s first financial moves under Carney was to sell off American dollars in a Canadian government bond offering.
Trump has met his match.
Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.
