Florida Man Loses Canadian Election

A photo collage featuring images of Donald Trump, Mark Carney, and the red maple leaf from the Canadian flag

Mother Jones illustration; Bonnie Cash/CNP/Zuma; Minas Panagiotakis/Getty

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Preliminary results projected by CBC in Canada’s snap federal election, which took place Monday, suggest that the country’s Liberal Party—which is currently in power—will win enough seats in the Canadian parliament to allow party leader Mark Carney to remain Prime Minister, though it remains unclear whether with a majority or minority government.

In some ways, it was the United States—specifically, President Donald Trump—that handed victory to Carney’s party, headed until March by then–Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Before Trump launched a trade war with Canada and began insisting that the country should become America’s “51st state”—a Trump fixation and source of ire to Canadians—Trudeau was dropping in popularity, as was his party. But in a rousing speech in February, Trudeau—who had already planned to step down—vowed that Canada would fight back:

We will stand strong for Canada. We will stand strong to ensure our countries continue to be the best neighbours in the world. With all that said, I also want to speak directly to Canadians in this moment. I’m sure many of you are anxious, but I want you to know we are all in this together. The Canadian government, Canadian businesses, Canadian organized labour, Canadian civil society, Canada’s premiers and tens of millions of Canadians from coast to coast to coast are aligned and united. This is Team Canada at its best.

Riding the wave of Canadian nationalism that Trump evoked, the Liberal Party was able to maintain its hold on power. Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, running on a “Canada First” platform, had been endorsed by Canadian citizen Elon Musk; Musk holds a Canadian passport through his family, including his maternal grandfather, an enthusiastic supporter of apartheid who left Canada for South Africa in 1950. A formal petition to Canada’s House of Commons calling for Musk’s Canadian citizenship to be revoked has garnered more than 300,000 signatures.

Earlier on Election Day, Trump made a Truth Social post seemingly encouraging Canadians to vote for Poilievre—and again floating the idea that Canada should become America’s 51st state. Trump and Musk’s backing may not have helped Poilievre, who rejected Trump’s support in a post on X; many Canadians now see the Liberal Party as their best option against absorption into the US.