Elbows Up-Lessons From Canadian Liberals
Gordie Howe was born in 1928 in a farmhouse nine miles east of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where his father taught him to “never take any dirt off anyone.” Howe was an incredible athlete who started skating at age four and playing competitively at eight. He went on to play 26 seasons in the NHL, win four Stanley Cups with the Red Wings, and be known worldwide as Mr. Hockey.
Howe is revered north of the border because he was the quintessential Canadian: polite and fun-loving off the ice but fierce and dedicated once the puck dropped. His famously confrontational style of play, in which he was always ready to swing an elbow into any opposing player within reach, now provides Canadians with their “Elbows Up” mantra as they fight back against MAGA attacks on their country.
For our family, here in Montana, it’s tough to endure the new angst between our countries. We have many dear Canadian friends, and we love to visit. Our Montana economy depends heavily on the three provinces to our north, and it’s very difficult to imagine purposefully attacking friends.
Because of our proximity, we pay attention to the politics to our north, and we can and should learn much from the Canadian fight against MAGA and the upcoming April 28th Canadian election, starting with the incredible velocity of the political change it has spurred. Longtime observers of Canadian and American politics have never seen anything like it, and there may be many parallels to our American political situation.
Earlier this year, Justin Trudeau, the once popular Liberal who served as Candadian prime minister for 10 years, was forced to resign by members of his own party because of dismal approval numbers as low as 19%. Like other incumbents around the world, COVID-19, Inflation, housing costs, and culture wars had taken their toll on Trudeau, and Conservatives were giddy at the thought of their Trumpist hero Pierre Poilievre soon winning in a landslide. The Shark Tank star and bombastic Canadian MAGA supporter Kevin O’Leary could barely contain himself just after the U.S. election, declaring that Poilievre is “Trump’s kind of guy.”
Pierre Poilievre, the conservative who lept from student directly to political life, seemed cut from MAGA central casting, and he spent years in the fawning embrace of American MAGA influencers. Alex Jones said of him, “Pierre Poilievre is simply dialed into the truth.” Ben Shapiro heaped it on: “Pierre Poilievre, who is going to be Prime Minister of Canada … he’s a tremendous politician.” Dennis Prager, the right-wing evangelist bent on inserting religious texts in U.S. schools, openly dreamed, “I hope he becomes Emperor of Canada.” Ann Coulter called him “Brilliant.” Glenn Beck labled him “fantastic.” Elon Musk gave him an enthusiastic “100%.” Trump endorsed him. They all believed Poilievre was poised to pull off a MCGA political transformation.1
But just after Trudeau resigned and fellow Liberal Mark Carney stepped in to replace him, an amazing political reversal of fortunes began when Trump started his flailing 51st state and tariff threats.
A recent Guardian article sums up the shocking events: “In January, Canadian pollsters and political pundits struggled to find fresh ways to describe the bleak prospects of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party, musing whether it would be a wipeout of existential proportions or merely a catastrophic blowout. But fresh polling released by three companies this week shows a stunning reversal of fortunes for the party: newly minted prime minister Mark Carney’s Liberals are projected to secure a majority government.”2
What might this mean for us Americans who, in the face of DOGE, a constitutional crisis, tariffs, a likely recession, and a weak response to it all, have also been bombarded with polls showing that Democrats' approval ratings are lower than a snake's belly? The lesson seems clear to me: in a time of fast-moving, reckless upheaval, there can also be an equally fast and serious response. I believe change can and will happen quickly, and for the good of our country, it had better.
But perhaps we should back up a bit and ask why the change happened in Canada. Is it a response to Trump that started the revival for Canadian Liberals? The answer is yes, absolutely 100%. Just take a look at this three-year CBC Canada tracking graph for proof and note that the upward rocket on the red line corresponds precisely with Trump’s anti-Canada actions.
Renowned Canadian Pollster Frank Graves summed it up this way; “The biggest factor by far is President Trump and the shock and awe at announcements that we heard, not just about annexation and tariffs, which certainly got everybody’s attention, but also just the general flavor and the cavalcade of announcements — whether it was, “Yeah, we’re going to build a resort in Gaza,” and “We’re going to give part of Ukraine back to the Russians, and we may not bother talking to Zelenskyy,” and the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr…It’s way worse than we thought.”
Man, I hear ya Frank!
However, there is one more critical component to the change, and Americans had best adopt it quickly: Canadians decided to FIGHT. The Liberal party did not cave to Trump. In the face of threats to annex their country, or “make it the 51st state,” Trudeau scoffed, and then Mark Carney refused to meet with Trump until his country was “shown respect.” The Conservative Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, cut power to U.S. customers in Michigan as a show of solidarity and to protest arbritrary Trump tariffs. Mike Meyers went on Saturday Night Live sporting his “not for sale” Canadian Jersey. Canadians everywhere have risen up and said Hell NO - and in so doing, they have revived a political party, defended classical liberalism, and decided to save their country.
For now, everyone down here in the States should take notice of their example. Change can happen quickly, polls can be dramatically reversed, and we can deliver surprising wins for decency and democracy…we just better get our elbows up!
https://pressprogress.ca/pierre-poilievre-is-trying-to-distance-himself-from-donald-trump-american-right-wing-media-keeps-praising-poilievre/
I’ve been cheering for Canada since you know who, started disparaging them. I was as pissed as if he had been picking on my brother. Canada was my Plan B for this time in our country. I was sorry to see Trudeau having to leave office the way he did, but I am thrilled by how Mark Carney has “handled “ the US. My mom was born in Ontario and I, likely naively, hope that fact would make it easier for me to change my zip code. I love Canada and am sorry that they have been much better neighbors to us, than we have been to them. Oh Canada! 🇨🇦
Thanks for writing this fine piece.
Strictly speaking, Trudeau began the reversal then Carney continued it. Both of them are proving what US Democrats FORMERLY understood. When you do the right thing, it doesn't matter that you spent decades doing the wrong thing. People want politicians to solve problems, not make problems. FDR showed how to solve problems and got re-elected three times. The opposition, which included some serious left and right revolutionaries as well as Republicans, simply didn't have anything to oppose, so they melted away.
Trudeau and Carney are proving the point again. Trudeau was doing the wrong thing before this, always serving the financial and banking class. After Trump got serious, Trudeau switched from making problems to solving, which left Poilievre without anything to oppose. Carney is remarkably acting more like FDR every day. He's really MAKING change, not just talking about it.
If Poilievre was smart he'd declare victory and go home! He got the change he wanted, now he isn't needed.