Canadians began voting Monday in the shadow of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war and warnings of annexation.
The ruling Liberal Party stance to remove former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has narrowed significantly after Trump’s threat, and now leads the Conservatives, with a total of less than 3%.
The merger of the polls by the government-subsidized Canadian Broadcasting Corporation showed that the Liberals had 39.2% and the New Democrats (NDP) were 8.1%.
The Liberals lag 23% behind Trump’s inauguration when Trudeau was still in power.
Despite the slim lead in the poll, the seat forecast in the House of Commons offers a comfortable lead of 180 seats for liberals.
Of the more than 28 million registered voters in Canada, the early votes had already voted by last Monday.
As polling stations begin reporting the count of paper ballots at individual stations, the first result of India Tuesday will be dripping in on Tuesday.
Importantly, the New Democratic Party led by Jagmeet Singh, who is allegedly a sympathizer of Khalistan, is facing a near-predictable seat.
In the last parliament, Singer exerted a disproportionate influence with 24 seats, which helped Trudeau stay in power despite 152 seats in the Liberal Party’s lack of a majority.
In January, the NDP received 17.4% support, making Singer irrelevant as Trump polarized his voters.
The relationship between India and Canada struggled under Trudeau, who himself was gentle to the Khalistanis and was influenced by Singh.
Mark Carney was elected by the Liberal Party to replace Trudeau and will continue to serve as prime minister if the projected establishment and his party wins.
He said he was trying to reset his relationship with India.
Carney stressed the economy over the weekend: “This is a very important relationship, and on many levels it is a Canadian-Indian relationship.”
“At this point, the world economy and the global system are both shocked, and countries like Canada like India can play a huge role in building an open, common economy, common ideas, common relations,” he said.
Carney is a technician leading Canadian and British National Banks, helping both countries with economic difficulties and is considered the best leader in facing Trump’s tariff threat.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre rode high in the last few days of a discredited Trudeau and appears to be prime minister, but his policies somehow reflect Trump’s policies when the U.S. president tariffs on many Canadian imports and wants to annex neighbors in the north.
Poilievre accused Trudeau of deteriorating relations with India.
“He is so incompetent and unprofessional that we are now in major disputes with almost all the major powers in the world, including India,” he said.
During the campaign, attempts to promote his poilievre by accusing India of interfering in the 2022 Conservative Party internal elections to favor him.
He dismissed an unnamed source and said: “Honestly, I won the fair aspect of leadership.”
He said even his political rivals “tested publicly under oath” and he won the party election fairly.
Media Canada No. 338, which tracks polls and makes predictions, said liberals will receive 124 seats in the Conservative Party and NDP 9.
CBC expects to project 189 seats for liberals and 125 seats for conservatives, providing five seats for the New Democrats.
