Millions of Canadians head to polls after 'useless' five-week campaign dominated by Trump
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OTTAWA — Millions of Canadians are expected to cast a ballot today, capping a 36-day election campaign dominated by threats of annexation and tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump and affordability concerns.
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The election has been deemed by Liberals, Conservatives, pollsters, unions and even former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien as the most consequential vote in a lifetime amid Canada's trade row with its closest economic ally, the United States.
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Polling suggests the campaign is uncommon in that it is largely dominated by only two parties, Mark Carney's Liberals and Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives, while smaller parties such as the NDP, Bloc Québécois and Green Party might have a 'catastrophic' election night.
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'You have two heavyweight political opponents slugging it out. Nobody's giving an inch, but no one's getting one either,' Leger executive vice-president Andrew Enns told National Post Friday.
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In a separate interview on Friday, Leger President Jean-Marc Léger said he had 'never seen such a stable campaign' in his lifetime.
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'Such a useless campaign is also unprecedented,' Léger told the Journal de Montréal, adding that no issue seemed to move the needle as much as Trump's tariff and annexation threats.
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He noted that the unprecedented stability in polling numbers suggested that most voters had already made up their minds before the campaign even started.
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The fact the Liberals are perceived frontrunners in the race points to a stunning reversal of fortunes for the party.
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Before former prime minister Justin Trudeau resigned in early January, the Conservatives had held a roughly 15 to 20 point lead over the Grits for over one year and many observers believed it a foregone conclusion that Poilievre would be Canada's next prime minister.
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