Analysis: American Influence Evident in Canadian Politics as ‘Unconventional’ Strategy Gains Traction
Importing political attack methods and even certain derogatory words from south of the border is becoming more frequent, but is it effective for Canadian parties?
The latest trend has seen Liberal MPs and cabinet ministers accuse Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of being “weird,” echoing a strategy used by the Democrats in the United States. Some Tory MPs have in turn retorted with the same term, sharing policy items, quotes, or photos of the Liberals on social media and characterizing them as “weird.”
Housing Minister Sean Fraser recently shot back at Poilievre’s criticism of his record on housing and immigration, saying on the X platform that Poilievre is “posting weird wood videos.”
Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge called Poilievre “weird” for wanting to defund the CBC.
Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman posted on X a response by Health Minister Mark Holland to a question about Liberal leadership succession, where he didn’t answer the question directly and made allusions on how things have improved compared to the past. Lantsman’s accompanying caption of the post read, “Weird.”
The introduction of the term “weird” does not appear to have been organic, as it surged a week prior in Democratic circles in the United States to attack Republican opponents.
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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, shortly before being tapped to run for vice president by Kamala Harris, said former President Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance are “just weird.” Democrats and the Harris campaign have since been using the word abundantly in communications.
While apparently borrowing from the Democrats, the Liberals have often accused the Conservatives of bringing “American-style” politics to Canada. The term “MAGA,” Trump’s slogan meaning “Make America Great Again,” is often mentioned in debates of the House of Commons as a form of accusation.
Liberal MP Adam van Koeverden accused Poilievre in November last year of “importing MAGA-brand, American-style politics into Canada, something that is not welcome in our country.”
Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen also often uses the term when talking about the Conservatives, saying in one post on X in December 2023 that Poilievre “supporters are MAGA supporters.”
For his part, Poilievre also uses key terms as part of branding the Liberals a certain way. After being expelled from the House of Commons in April for refusing to “simply withdraw” using the word “wacko” to describe the prime minister and his policies, Poilievre and his party have adopted the term.
Everything from Ottawa’s drug decriminalization program in B.C. to “catch-and-release” bail policies have been slapped with the term.
Momentum
Conrad Winn, a political science professor at Carleton University, says “American-style” politics—which can be marked by polarization, insults, and attack ads—are only moderately present in Canada, not just because Canadians are more politically moderate, but also because the legal system protects politicians against “extreme lies.”
“Americans have much more freedom to lie about a politician than Canadians have, and as a result American voters are less likely to believe an accusation against American politicians than Canadian voters are,” Winn told The Epoch Times. “And so their legal system helps explain the extremist character of political discussion in the United States.”
Accusations that a Canadian politician is importing U.S.-style politics go back decades, and also cut both ways.
Vic Toews, while a Canadian Alliance MP in 2001, accused then-Justice Minister Anne McLellan of “playing American style politics” over a bill dealing with the protection of children.
More recently, then-Conservative Leader Erin O‘Toole said Trudeau was “importing American-style media manipulation” during the 2021 electoral campaign with an edited video of O’Toole’s stance on health care.
For Winn, it is normal that aspects of U.S. politics make their way into Canada, given how integrated the two countries are. The United States also has a sizeable influence through various fields, from universities to media, he said.
Influence
It’s a perspective shared by Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto, who noted that other countries draw on how political campaigns are run in the United States.
“If you look at campaigns in Brazil, or France, or Germany, or Italy, or Israel, they’re also influenced because the Americans have been leaders in so many ways in campaigning and campaigning styles, and things like polling research,” Wiseman said in an interview.
He also said Liberals share policy orientations with the Democrats and want to be associated with what they are saying and doing.
With regard to the latest trend of focusing on the word “weird,” however, Wiseman doesn’t think many Canadian voters will be swayed.
With the U.S. influence on Canadian politics being hard to avoid, political science professor Kathy Brock of Queens University says it’s not constructive for political rivals to accuse each other of drawing from our southern neighbour.
Accusing someone of employing American-style politics has been “used as a sloppy shorthand to dismiss political opponents in Canadian politics,” Brock told The Epoch Times.
She said contexts are different in Canada and the United States, and use of the term “obscures important differences among valid political ideas and positions.”
“This type of term dismisses the need for careful consideration of different perspectives and constructive compromises, and thus, indirectly contributes to the drift towards polarization and often false divisions among Canadian parties.”
Bringing down the temperature in politics and the House of Commons has been a recurring theme of late, and accusing someone of using U.S.-style politics implies that Canada’s political environment is more respectful and civilized.
Wiseman, however, says this is less true now than it was in the past. “If you watch Parliament, you would say our politicians are much less respectful, because the arguments they make are ad hominem.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
