Ottawa [Canada], April 27 : Canadian voters are going to the polls on Monday amid one of the most dramatic campaign transformations in years, Al Jazeera reported.
January polls indicated the Conservatives were headed for a certain victory, but the Liberals have started gaining traction, although the competition has narrowed in recent days. Early voting has shattered records with more than 7.3 million ballots cast, as per Al Jazeera.
"It's pretty clear the Liberals are going to win this now," said Frank Graves, President and Founder of Canadian polling firm EKOS Research. "That would have been utterly unthinkable at the beginning of this year," he told Al Jazeera.
Last fall, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre tapped into rising populism in response to an affordability crisis and inflation under longtime Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
But the tide turned when Trudeau stepped down earlier this year on January 6, paving the way for new Liberal leadership, and President Donald Trump entered his second term, threatening Canada's economy with a trade war. Suddenly, Canadians unified around their national identity.
A change in US leadership has had a dramatic impact on its neighbour to the north.
At the beginning of the year, Poilievre enjoyed unchallenged popularity. An election would be called sometime in 2025, and it seemed likely that he would face off against Trudeau, who had been in power for nine years and had become deeply unpopular, as per Al Jazeera.
Trump's sudden tariffs have plunged Canada's economy into uncertainty. More than 70 per cent of the country's exports go to the US, including automotive parts, lumber, agricultural products and steel.
In March, the second-largest steel producer in Canada, Algoma Steel, announced layoffs as a direct result of Trump's tariffs.
The steel plant is the main employer in the close-knit city of Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, and the layoffs were felt deeply across the community. The Sault Ste Marie-Algoma district has been held by the Liberals since 2015, but last year, a steelworker dressed down Trudeau during a campaign stop. Since then, both Poilievre and Carney have made campaign stops in the city.
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