With just days remaining in Canada’s 2025 federal election, party leaders criss-crossed the country Thursday in a final sprint to connect with voters. Liberal Leader Mark Carney, speaking in British Columbia, confirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump had raised the idea of Canada becoming the “51st state” during a call the two leaders had in March.
Carney, pressed by reporters during a campaign stop in Coquitlam, acknowledged that Trump had indeed floated the notion. “I said that he did,” Carney stated. “He has these things in his mind. This is not news. He raises it all the time, okay?” While brushing off the remark as another one of Trump’s musings, Carney emphasized that the U.S. president had referred to him respectfully as prime minister, unlike the condescending tone previously used with former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The idea of Canada as a U.S. state was first reported this week by Radio-Canada, based on anonymous sources familiar with the conversation. The Liberals have used Trump’s erratic trade decisions and sharp rhetoric to frame the election as a referendum on leadership—arguing that Carney is the only one Trump respects enough not to push around.
Later in the day, Carney responded sharply to Trump’s recent statements that he didn’t want Canada participating in the North American auto industry and may raise tariffs even further. “This is Canada—we decide what happens here,” Carney said in a fiery speech. Trump’s proposed 25 per cent tariff on Canadian car imports is already raising concerns across sectors. Carney’s retort was clear: Canada will not be bullied.
Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, campaigning in Halifax, announced that his party would scrap the federal electric vehicle (EV) mandates if elected. Under current rules, 20 per cent of new vehicles sold must be electric by 2026, with a full transition required by 2035. EVs accounted for around 12 per cent of sales in 2023, but government rebates aimed at supporting the transition were cut in January.
In Winnipeg, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh took aim at Carney’s progressive credentials. Speaking to supporters and the media, Singh dismissed the Liberals’ latest ad campaign as an attempt to court left-leaning voters, calling Carney a corporate insider unfit to champion working families. He accused Carney of enabling the housing crisis during his tenure at Brookfield Asset Management, a firm that owns major housing assets across Canada. Singh also criticized the Liberals’ proposed $28 billion in unspecified spending cuts, saying now is the time to invest in services like health care, not scale them back.
As the clock ticks down to Monday’s election, the rhetoric has intensified—and the stakes have never felt higher.