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Consider This from NPR

How Canada's national election has been largely shaped by Donald Trump

Consider This from NPR

NPR

Society & Culture, News, Daily News, News Commentary

4.15.3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 April 2025

⏱️ 14 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war and threats to make Canada the 51st state have become some of the biggest issues facing Canadians as they head to the polls in their federal election on April 28th.

Scott Detrow speaks to Lloyd Axworthy, a member of the Liberal party, who served as Canada's top diplomat between 1996-2000, about the schism between the two longtime North American allies and how Canada's next prime minister can reposition the country's foreign and economic policy in the face of growing tensions with the United States.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

ahead of Canada's federal election, there seems to be a groundswell of national pride.

0:06.2

Elbows up! I love you, Canada. You guys are brave. Go, Canada, go. Go, Canada, go. Go Canada. Elbows up.

0:14.9

That's a hockey term expressing a willingness to defend yourself, to throw a punch. And it's a phrase Canadians have been using

0:21.7

to express their nationalism at rallies across the country, like this one in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

0:29.0

And that wellspring of Canadian pride? It's mostly thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump.

0:34.6

Here's how comedian Sean Majumder put it.

0:36.9

We are a good neighbor who will still be there for our big brother, but we don't need you

0:46.2

anymore, America. New tariffs have threatened to crush the Canadian economy, which depends

0:51.3

heavily on U.S. trade. In response, many Canadians have canceled

0:55.7

plan travel to the U.S. and are avoiding even boycotting American-made products in favor of

1:01.0

Canadian ones. But it's not just tariffs that are causing Canadians to sour on the U.S.

1:06.6

and embrace national pride. I spoke to Governor Tudelle on numerous occasions, and we'll see what happens.

1:13.8

President Trump has mocked the former Canadian Prime Minister and repeatedly threatened Canada's

1:18.3

sovereignty by expressing his desire to turn Canada into the 51st American state.

1:24.1

On Friday, he did it again telling Time magazine he wasn't trolling and that he was serious

1:28.9

about taking over Canada. For me, personally, this is not funny. Like, I've heard some people say,

1:34.8

oh, you know, he's just joking. He's just joking. No, this is not funny. This is not funny to us.

1:39.9

It is a threat. It is real. That's Barbara Wilson. She's a retired teacher from Milton, Ontario,

1:45.2

about an hour west of Toronto. For her and millions of other Canadians, Donald Trump and the

1:50.1

risks he poses to Canadian sovereignty are very much on the ballot in tomorrow's federal election,

1:56.2

which many believe to be the most consequential in decades. Yeah, we're feeling vulnerable,

2:00.4

and it's not good,

...

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