Majority of Canadians see upcoming election as most important
3 Min Read
A new Nanos poll shows that 86% of Canadians view the upcoming federal election—marked by rising US tariffs, sovereignty concerns, and shifting party dynamics—as the most important in the country’s history.
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Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly awaits the arrival of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in La Malbaie, Canada, on March 14, 2025. (AP)
Driven by US tariffs and concerns over national sovereignty, nearly 86% of Canadians, according to a Nanos poll released Sunday, consider the upcoming federal election the most important in the country’s history.
The Nanos poll found, "Close to nine-in-10 (86%) of Canadians think this federal election is more important than previous elections, while 13% think it is as important and 1% are unsure."
Meanwhile, as the April 28 election nears, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and his party, who, before the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, led convincingly in public polls, have seen their fortunes change.
Under Prime Minister Mark Carney, who succeeded Trudeau, the ruling Liberals surged ahead of the Conservatives. However, the latest Nanos poll released Sunday shows the Conservatives have made gains, narrowing the gap between the two parties by six points, according to pollster Nik Nanos.
“In the post-Trump ‘Liberation Day’ period, the gap between the Liberals and the Conservatives has narrowed, with the Liberals at 43 percent and the Conservatives at 37 percent nationally,” the statement said.
The Nanos survey also revealed that while Alberta Premier Danielle Smith opposes imposing counter-tariffs on her province’s oil and gas exports to the US, 68% of Canadians support the measure.
Nanos Research interviewed 1,200 Canadians aged 18 and over over three days (400 per day).
'US-Canada relations never the same'
Last week, Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly delivered a sharp warning to European leaders following US President Donald Trump’s imposition of steep tariffs on allied nations.
“We know that the relationship will never be the same again,” Joly said at NATO headquarters, where she was attending a meeting of allied foreign ministers, adding, “That's my message to Europeans, the relationship with the US will never be the same.”
Trump lumped the EU in with America’s “worst” trade partners, slapping a 20% tariff on all imports from the bloc — a move that revives trade barriers not seen since the Great Depression and puts Europe alongside China, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea on Washington’s blacklist.
“We buy more from the US than the UK, France, China and Japan combined," Joly told reporters. "When you treat your best client the way we've been treated ... it means that you want fundamentally to change the way you're operating.”
She cautioned that the tariffs would effectively burden American consumers and called on Europeans to relay that message to the US public to help sway the administration.
The trade war between the US and Canada began as Trump imposed steep tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, framing the move as necessary for national security. Canada, one of the US' closest allies and largest trading partners, responded with retaliatory tariffs on US goods, including agricultural products and consumer goods. The tensions marked a dramatic shift in North American relations.
