‘Trump 2.0’ is hostile not only to Canadian prosperity and sovereignty, but to the historical foundations of the Canadian Conservative Movement itself.
Let’s take a look at three recent stories:
Redrawing the border
The first is a New York Times report building on previous reporting about the Trump Administration’s repeated threats to annex Canada:
The American Right resembles authoritarian states
The second is a Financial Times analysis of how the American right is now ideologically more aligned with countries like Russia, Turkey, and China:
US right-wing podcaster whines about Poilievre
And the third is former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney justifiably slamming a right-wing podcaster in the United States who whined about Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre not going on his show:
An historic divergence
Ostensibly, all of these stories are unrelated.
But they are connected.
Canada and the United States have always shared many core values. Even when we disagreed, there was a sense that it was a disagreement within a family, rather than the disagreement of enemies.
But things are very different now.
The United States is now led by a President who openly threatens Canadian sovereignty, openly muses about redrawing our borders, annexing our nation, and wrecking our economy to force us to submit to him.
That President leads an American right wing movement that is aligned with Russia and hostile towards America’s traditional allies.
That same movement is becoming increasingly authoritarian and imperialistic, and is now trending in the same disturbing direction as the far-right movements of the 1930s, with top right-wing influencers like Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson increasingly platforming those who think the Allies were the ‘bad guy’ in WW2:
And so, what those three stories have in common is that Trumpism is a political force that is antagonistic to Canadian values, even Canada’s existence as a sovereign nation.
Trump’s anti-conservatism
Because we tend to get locked into party-labels and party identification, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that Donald Trump and the American right wing movement are out of step with Western conservatism broadly, and Canadian conservatism specifically.
Consider the following pillars of Canadian Conservatism over the past 50 years.
Pro-free trade.
Pro-NATO.
Pro-balanced budgets.
Anti-Russia.
Pro-Ukraine.
Pro-honouring treaties.
Pro-incremental change, rather than blowing up established institutions.
Pro-democracy.
Anti-authoritarian.
Comparing Harper & Trump
Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper pushed for more free trade, he was staunchly anti-Russia, he expressed support for Ukraine’s sovereignty at a time when other Western leaders were still trying to appease Russia, he backed pro-democracy movements around the world, he promoted an inclusive Canada while keeping immigration levels manageable and promoting Canadian patriotism, he pushed to balance the budget, he honoured Canada’s treaty commitments even when it was unpopular, he accepted court rulings he disagreed with and sought to make Canada more conservative through legislation rather than unilateral illegal actions, and he respected the deep history of Western cooperation in the fight for freedom and human rights over the past century.
By contrast, current U.S. President Donald Trump despises free trade, is the most pro-Russia leader in the Western world, has obvious disdain for Ukraine and is deliberately weakening Ukraine at this very moment, backs far-right authoritarian parties around the world (including the neo-fascist AfD in Germany), scapegoats immigrants using false information (‘eating the dogs’), prefers to blame America and America’s Western allies than criticize authoritarian states like Russia, runs massive deficits, violates treaties endlessly (illegally abrogating the NAFTA 2.0 deal he signed, threatening to pull out of NATO, questioning treaties on the Canada-US border, etc.), feels he is above the law, and – alongside current U.S. President JD Vance – denigrates and disrespects the allied soldiers who fought and died when American allies (including Canada) answered the call after 9/11 when America invoked NATO’s Article 5.
Those differences alone are enough to make it obvious that Trumpism and Canadian Conservatism are at odds. Trumpism is opposed to the core ideological convictions of Canadian Conservatism.
And there’s another even bigger reason why Canadian Conservatives need to stand against Trumpism:
The Canadian Conservative movement has always been about building Canada and defending Canada, while Trumpism is now a movement devoted to ending Canada as an independent nation.
Trump wants to annex Canada, thus destroying the nation that Canadian Conservatives helped to build.
That means Trumpism is implacably opposed to Canadian Conservatism.
At this point, after all the annexation threats and violation of signed agreements, it is simply not possible to be a true Canadian Conservative and be a Trumpist.
It’s one or the other.
And this is something the Canadian Conservative movement must understand if it wishes to survive.
Canadian Conservatism must oppose Trumpism
We are witnessing a rapid shift in Canadian public opinion.
A few months ago, the Liberal Party was on its political death bed.
The Conservative lead seemed insurmountable.
Now, the Liberals have surged back into contention, and the Conservatives are struggling to adjust.
While Justin Trudeau’s resignation is part of this, the main factor is that Donald Trump’s attacks on Canada – and the increasingly authoritarian bent of the Trump movement/American right – is absolutely anathema to the vast majority of Canadians.
As just two of many examples, a recent Pollara poll shows 76% of Canadians have negative views of Trump, compared to just 14% with positive views, while a recent Angus Reid poll shows just 24% of Canadians have a positive view of the United States – barely above the 20% who have a positive view of China.
In a loud, clear, and unified voice, Canadians are saying that we reject the American right and reject Trumpism.
As a corollary, if the Canadian Conservative movement is seen as being part of the American Conservative movement, it will cease to exist in Canada as any kind of viable political force.
That’s the reality, whether people feel it’s fair or not.
And so, in order to survive, the Canadian Conservative movement must become an anti-Trump movement, while proposing solutions to defending Canada that are built on the foundation of Canadian conservative principles.
The Conservative Party has already done some of this, by proposing an Arctic military buildup, proposing to make it easier to build pipelines, and proposing the reduction of barriers to investment that have driven jobs and opportunity out of Canada. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has also repeatedly declared that Canada will never be the 51st state.
But the party has to go further, and recognize that there is no room for hedging their bets or utilizing Trump style rhetoric.
Canada should not seek to isolate ourselves or demonize global cooperation. That’s what Trump is doing, and it’s already enraging America’s allies.
Instead, Canada should be deepening economic and military ties with Europe and with Asian democracies.
We should seek more free trade, and more institutional cooperation.
We should redouble our commitment to NATO (or whatever alliance of democracies replaces NATO if the US leaves), expand our support for Ukraine, and remain an inclusive country – even as we get immigration levels under control.
We should not give in to zero-sum “I win, you lose” thinking, but instead remember that trade brings benefits for both sides of a transaction.
In doing so, we should remember that all of this is consistent with true Canadian Conservatism.
As previously noted, the Conservatives under Stephen Harper were glad to work with fellow democracies, signed numerous trade deals, supported NATO, stood up for Ukraine, welcomed immigrants while keeping immigration levels manageable, and recognized that cooperation could bring benefits to all.
And many core Canadian values go beyond partisanship. Under both Conservative and Liberal governments this country has stood for what is right even when the United States refused to do the same. We provided haven to freed slaves at the time when America was still a pro-slavery nation. We entered the First World War and Second World War long before America did. In the Second World War, we voluntarily entered to help stand with Britain while the United States waited until it was directly attacked.
Canada has also often been quicker than the United States to recognize, expand, and defend the individual rights and freedoms of Women, LGBT People, Immigrants, and other groups, showing that while we may brag less about freedom, we are often more consistent in defending it.
And right now, Canada needs principled Canadian Conservatism more than ever. We need advocates for pipelines and LNG plants. We need advocates for renewed patriotism and Canadian pride. We need advocates for returning to our roots as a strong military power. We need advocates for standing with our Western allies. We need the principled stance on supporting Ukraine and opposing Russia that former Prime Minister Stephen Harper exemplified.
And most importantly, the national unity Canada needs to withstand the growing Trump threat requires a broad coalition across partisan divides, which necessitates a strong conservative presence in a true Team Canada.
Canadian Conservatism helped to build this country, and it can help save this country. But to do so, and to save its own viability as a political force in this nation, it must oppose Trumpism with every fibre of its being.
Spencer Fernando
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