Stephen Maher on the 2025 Federal Election in Canada

Stephen Maher is an award winning columnist and investigative reporter who has written for Postmedia News, iPolitics, and Maclean’s. His most recent book is called The Prince: The Turbulent Reign of Justin Trudeau tells the story of one of the more tumultuous prime ministerial tenures in Canadian history. 

In early January 2025, Canada’s federal Conservatives seemed headed for a landslide victory in the upcoming election. Polls suggested the party led by Pierre Poilievre was in the lead by as many as 20 percentage points over the incumbent Liberals. But then Canadian politics took a turn.

In February, US President Donald Trump started belittling Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, calling him Governor.

He then raised alarm bells by brazenly threatening Canada’s economy and its sovereignty, vowing to slap tariffs on Canadian goods entering the US market and stating his intention to annex his northern neighbour and make it the 51 st state.

In March, the unpopular Trudeau, in power for 9 years, finally stepped down as Prime Minister and Liberal leader and was replaced by Mark Carney former Governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England. Canada is now in the middle of an election campaign and polls are now pointing towards a Liberal victory. Some suggest the Mark Carney led Grits could even win a majority. It’s a remarkable change of fortune for the once beleaguered party.

Adrian Harewood sits down with Stephen to discuss the 2025 Federal Election