Has Canadian politics become more Americanized since Trump?

[The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ]

Well first, I don't think noise on Twitter is very representative of the Canadian population--after all, Twitter thought the PPC was going to sweep the nation.

You're right in making the observation that Canadian politics are getting more Americanized. But this really isn't something new, it's something that has been happening throughout Canadian history. The long-term trajectory of English Canada has been Americanization, whether we like it or not, and a more American style of politics is a consequence of it. I'll go into it further if anyone is interested, but both the major Canadian parties have been borrowing from their American counterparts for a very long time.

So I don't think this is a new, unique phenomenon by any means. However, there are some ways in which Canada is genuinely different from the US, and that prevents Canada from going full-on America.

For one, the Liberal base isn't as broad a tent as the Democratic Party's base--this is both a weakness and a strength. It's a weakness when they're out of power, because the base isn't that big. But it means more party discipline and message control. Think about it: the Democratic Party has a base that ranges from AOC to Joe Manchin. In Canada, AOC would be NDP and Manchin would be CPC. The internal divisions that haunt the Democratic Party don't haunt the Liberals. The Liberal Party knows its base: middle-class, professional types, mostly living in major metro areas; non-Franco Quebecers; the atlantic provinces. Keep them happy, and you're in the clear. Hard-left types are mostly in the NDP, meaning there isn't a centrist-leftist divide within the Liberal Party apparatus. But on election day, a lot of those hardcore lefties will vote Liberal anyway, fearing a Conservative gov't.

As for the Tories, well, it's the opposite. You're right, a big chunk of their base is made up of hardcore right wingers that would fit right into a MAGA rally. But they're only one part of the coalition. The Conservative Party of Canada has to accommodate a HUGE spectrum of voters--from disaffected Liberals, to the religious right, to the MAGA right, to libertarians, etc etc. You see this conflict all the time in Canada. When it comes to abortion, the Tories always have to toe a really fine line between pro-choice and pro-life to avoid alienating any part of the base. Their message on immigration also has to toe this thin line, because they know their base, but they also know you'll never win a Canadian election without those immigrant-heavy suburbs.

Check out their ongoing leadership race: a candidate, Derek Sloan, suggested that Canada's Chief Health Officer is doing China's bidding, and questioned her loyalty to Canada. She happens to be of Chinese descent. I can't post a link because I haven't made enough posts on this website, but I'd suggest looking up the following: Rookie Belleville, Ont., MP gets blowback for ‘racist’ comments against Canada’s top doctor

Is it a dogwhistle? Who knows, the whole point of dogwhistling is that it's impossible to prove. But it's clearly inappropriate and distasteful for a sitting MP to make, especially one who is running to be the party leader (and thus, the Prime Ministerial candidate). Now Sloan isn't going to win the race, but he's been able to meet the strict fundraising and membership requirements, so there clearly is a base. So this relatively minor distasteful molehill gets made into a mountain in this country, because there's no obvious position for the Tories to take. If they stand by Sloan, they risk alienating moderate voters and ESPECIALLY Chinese-Canadian voters, who have been voting pretty reliably Conservative for a few election cycles now. But Sloan obviously has appeal among the far-right twitter set you mentioned, and the Tories don't want to alienate those people either. So the entire existence of the Conservative Party is founded on eggshells, which makes running an effective campaign extremely difficult in a parliamentary system. Instead they have been focusing on destroying Trudeau's credibility so much that they win by default. This will bear fruit inevitably, but in doing so they may relegate themselves to a protest party.

I guess I kinda went off topic, so I'll bring it back here: yes, Canadian politics have gotten more Americanized. But that's not so much Trump as it is the inevitable conclusion of sharing a continent for over 150 years. However, there are real differences that make Trump-style politics tricky in Canada.

[The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ]

Mulroney a "Red Tory"?

He was often presented as Canada's answer to Thatcher at the time.

His initial rhetoric was very anti-government, but Mulroney was far more moderate than Thatcher. It may have been in part because his premiership was largely consumed by constitutional reform, and a lot of his MPs were actually nationalistic Quebecers who didn't have much time for Thatcherism. He did privatize many crown corporations and brought in NPM reforms, but his reforms were very mild compared to Thatcher's. His government was very environmentally conscious for its time, pressuring Bush to sign the Acid Rain Treaty, and he was outspoken about its anti-apartheid position, uncharacteristically so for a 1980s tory.

He wasn't considered a Red Tory during his time, because back then Red Tories were traditional, paternalistic, 'High Tory' types. In fact, his embrace of neoliberal economics and indifference toward traditionalism pretty much killed the Red Tory tradition in Cdn federal politics. Nowadays, Red Tories in Canada are much less Benjamin Disraeli and more Nelson Rockefeller, if that makes sense.