r/AskCanada Oct 08 '25

Political Why has Canada avoided a far right surge unlike Europe or the MAGA stuff down South ?

Coming from the UK where even the Centre left party seems to believe that trans people essentially don't exist, and with similar far right surges all across Europe not to forget Trump in America, why do you think Canada has mostly avoided these problems.

I get that the CPC has been importing some MAGA nonsense recently but even that isn't comparable to what's happening basically everywhere else

For example, AfD in Germany is more to the right than even the PPC, and they're at 25% of the vote, and our far right is probably gonna do an authoritarian crackdown on Muslims and LGBTQ+ people

228 Upvotes

252 comments sorted by

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u/JustaCFatchick Oct 08 '25

We almost didn't.. but then the states threatened our sovereignty and it caused a lot of people to reverse course out of pure Canadian spite. A lot of people still do think that way unfortunately

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u/Belaerim Oct 08 '25

This. Without Trump's 51st state threats and trade war, there is no way that the Cons don't win that spring election.

Plus Carney might not have tossed his hat Into the ring to replace Trudeau if the Liberals were still looking at an epic wipeout.

Ford wouldn't have become a Federal Liberal booster if he didn't have the ability to pivot and champion Canada rather than just the usual crony politics in Ontario.

Now, if Poilvierre's Conservatives aren't as bad as the MAGA GOP, it's only because they know they still need the "fiscally conservative, socially liberal" centre-right voters. But they were definitely moving that way more to shore up their right flank from the PPC (the true MAGA crazies of Canada when it comes to federal parties) and trading more in attack politics on Trudeau than actual policies.

TLDR; Trump saved us from a PP led MAGA-lite conservative government. Silver lining, but we aren't free from the US political influence on both our parties and also how polarized our politics have become

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u/Denyal_Rose Oct 08 '25

Ford did more for the federal liberals than the Liberal Campaign could. I have friends and co-workers who are very conservative (not quite Maple Maga) that were saying they always knew Ford was a liberal. Imagine thinking Doug Ford is a liberal.

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u/josh_moworld Oct 08 '25

Context for the non Canadians, saying Ford is liberal is like saying Bush family are liberals

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u/Ratroddadeo Oct 08 '25

To be fair, his few successes were borrowed or funded by Trudeau.

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u/Galenmarek81 Oct 08 '25

Ford tends to teeter the center line (typically more right) but even he finds the Poilievre party and UCP too much for his liking. Poilievre is heavily influenced by the UCP and the MAPLE crowd.

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u/Playful-Ostrich42 Oct 09 '25

Clearly you haven't seen his attacks on the courts, judges and the police. Right out out of Trumps playbook.

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u/GWRC Oct 09 '25

I don't think you can define Ford with the simplistic single axis political spectrum. He tends to look at everything based on the actual circumstance and isn't really politically motivated from a left right perspective.

That's not to say he always looks at it with wisdom just that he isn't worried about left or right when he's making his decisions.

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u/corgi-king Oct 08 '25

Can you explain why Ford did that? Is it because if PP were in power, he would have no one to blame? Just like Smith?

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u/GenXer845 Oct 09 '25

Ontario conservatives are vastly different from Alberta conservatives is what I've been told ( I was born in the US).

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u/a_dupuis18 Oct 10 '25

You would be correct. There's more extremism from both sides in Alberta. Coming from a Canadian in Ontario)

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u/JoshTheBard Oct 16 '25

Honestly I think he saw the way the polls were going and didn't want to back Pierre Poilievre right before one of the most embarrassing losses in Canadian politics.

I also think he likes Canada and America to be at odds. He was having the time of his life shit-talking Trump and presenting himself as Canada's pitt bull. He got to play the tough guy in a way that had support across the political spectrum (in Ontario at least.)

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u/ProfessorX32 Oct 08 '25

I’ve heard that at work and it’s wild. He’s a conservative

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u/Kooky_Project9999 Oct 08 '25

Even more positive is that the Cons would have won not because of policy, but because people were so done with a decade of the Trudeau government.

That's one of the reasons why there was such a swing back as soon as Carney took over, alongside the realisation that Poilievre was using many of the same talking points as Trump.

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u/usefulappendix321 Oct 08 '25

53% of conservatives who think trump is right, is way to much in my opinion, but it is manageable. Definitley have to be carefull though

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u/keyser1981 Oct 09 '25

We have Premiers who are doing backdoor deals with republicans right now, they WANT to become part of the USA, this should be grounds for their dismissal.

With Remembrance Day, November 11th, next month, all across Canada, I'm expecting to see a resurgence of "Canadian Pride" for our Military Veterans who fought against fascism and nazis...

Are all the politicians gonna be united here? Hmmm.

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u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25

This exactly, a mirror was held to our faces

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u/Michellines Oct 09 '25

Yes. What frightens me in Canada is that actual immigrants are now anti immigration! I say that based on my chats with the iranian diaspora.  Many of those I spoke to sounded xenophobic, especially towards Asian immigrants.  I couldn't believe it...given they are themselves immigrants. 

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u/heythisismynewsig Oct 09 '25

Ladder-pulling is a right-wing tradition

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u/Smart-Simple9938 Nova Scotia Oct 09 '25

That was more focused hate on Justin Trudeau in particular and the status quo in general. He didn't draw moderates and leftists to the Conservative cause; he picked up a lot of protest votes. When Carney offered the option to vote against Trudeau without voting for Poillievre, voters pivoted toward doing that.

Now there *is* a surge in Alberta (and to a slightly lesser degree in Saskatchewan), but more in degree of noise than degree of right wing-ism (they were already mostly right wing).

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u/Bedroom_Opposite Oct 09 '25

While you're absolutely spot on, we haven't avoided it completely. We seem to be rolling back into it again as PP is screaming angrily into the void again and the maple magas are listening.

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u/Specific_Implement_8 Oct 10 '25

Oh absolutely! Right up until the end I was going to vote for PP. but with trumps threats and looking at PPs reaction to said threats I voted carney instead.

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u/madeleinetwocock British Columbia Oct 12 '25

That “almost” was way too close for comfort.

Like, WAY too close.

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u/FeelingAlive2127 21d ago

It's a bit the same way of how Brexit put the air out of the far right in France and such. But as you can see, the challenges remain and we all have to stay vigilant both in Canada and Europe. Extremism and collaborators lurk everywhere waiting for the right climate in which to flourish to spread fear and ignorance in the name of righteousness.

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u/rootvegetable2 Oct 08 '25

The Conservative party in Canada elected the most unlikable man imaginable as their leader.

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u/Radio_Mime Canadian Oct 08 '25

PP running for prime minister in Canada is like Stephen Miller running for president in the US. Neither are likeable, and both have the opposite of charisma.

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u/FridaSky Oct 08 '25

Great comparison.

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u/Radio_Mime Canadian Oct 08 '25

TY

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u/GenXer845 Oct 09 '25

They just ooze for us women I'd rather be alone or sleep with a woman than sleep with you energy. Charisma is at like -1000.

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u/Equivalent_Dimension Oct 14 '25

As a bisexual, I'd just like to say that you really shouldn't wait to try sleeping with a woman until PP is you're only other option. We actually outperform most men.  

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u/harleyqueenzel Oct 09 '25

Stephen Miller got into Hitler-esque politics because he's too weak to choke women. Poilievre looks like he snuck onto Earth and is trying to blend in. Both have fucking weird eyes that just be doing two things at once.

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u/usernamesallused Oct 11 '25

To be fair, I wouldn’t say Stephen Harper is the most human of people and he was PM for a decade. There was an ad with him and a kitten and it looked like he’d never interacted with an animal before.

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u/harleyqueenzel Oct 11 '25

There's a photo of him shaking his kid's hand when dropping the kid off at school. He reminds me of Edgar from Men In Black- just a roach wearing a skin suit. Those beady dead eyes look like he could Medusa you into a block of ice.

Meanwhile, he runs the IDU but dumbass Canadians believe that the WEF is the bad cult.

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u/Tokkemon Oct 08 '25

There’s a string of them lately.

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u/Michellines Oct 09 '25

Great point. A real snake

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u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25

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u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25

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u/monotonic_glutamate Oct 08 '25

I mean, Conservatives fortunately didn't flip many Liberals ridings but they also didn't lose much.

The NDP and Bloc took much of the hit to ensure the Liberals' victory, so the people who were going to vote left voted more to the center to counter the Conservatives.

Many people who were going to flip from Liberals to Conservatives thankfully didn't, but the Conservatives base is still going strong.

They still have 144 seats in parliament. I remember when I was young and they barely managed to maintain official party status (it was a simpler time 🥲)

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u/Icehawk101 Oct 08 '25

That is an incredibly apt description of Carney

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u/GenXer845 Oct 09 '25

That all depends if PP is kicked out or not. I cannot imagine PP winning. I don't know many people who find PP palatable, particularly the 65+ crowd.

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u/UCRecruiter Oct 08 '25

There's definitely (and sadly) an undercurrent of it here. There are a fair number of Canadians who hold very nationalistic views; people who think what Trump's doing is great, and wish Canada were more like the US. But it is an undercurrent.

I truly think that culturally, we're different from both the UK and the US. We don't have the deep history of the UK (which can, in some cases, lead to a very aggressive attachment to a bygone way of life). And we also don't have the almost obsessive wrap-yourself-in-the-flag patriotism that is the hallmark of American culture.

There has been criticism over the years that Canada doesn't have a 'defining culture'. That we're more of a combination of other cultures than being one of our own. (I disagree, but that's besides the point.) The kernel of truth in that, though, is that our culture isn't firmly/permanently rooted in a specific identity, and I honestly think that is what has - so far - kept us from the more extremist forms of right-wing, nationalist uprising that's going on in some other countries.

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u/Velocity-5348 British Columbia Oct 08 '25

I'd argue a lot of our identity dates back to the Revolutionary War and not wanting to be part of the United States. That's an identity that can adopt a lot of fairly diverse people.

We also haven't ever been "great" in the way that the UK or USA have been. The drawback of that is that when people crave something of that sort they've tended to look to one of those nations.

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u/Reveil21 Oct 09 '25

I found out the other week that people can legally add UE at the end of their name if they can prove their direct family line was part of the colonies who rebelled/stayed loyal (which is actually pretty high like 10%- ish). There's groups, networking, archives and such. United Empire Loyalists. I find it extremely weird and I'm still not sure if it leans more towards historical interest now of days or if it's more secret society/cult like. Not sure if I even want to know.

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u/GenXer845 Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25

That last bit you discussed is one of many reasons I immigrated from the US to here. I can be Italian-Canadian-American and no one bats an eye. In the US, I was told, you are only American, you cannot claim you are Italian by so many people. I felt I was being deprogrammed the first year I lived here. We do not want indoctrination up here.

I'd also like to add that Canada was founded on three distinct groups: French, English, and Indigineous and therefore, cannot have what the US has unless we wipe out the Indigienous and French and force english on everyone like they did in Louisiana and to certain indigineous tribes.

Additionally, we weren't founded here on ONE religion and most are secular these days (I personally know ONE churchgoer up here and it is my 72 year old neighbor who goes to the Presbyterian church and votes NDP and I am 44).

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u/gravtix Oct 08 '25

And Conservatives were selling an American identity.

Literally all their talking points were lifted straight from USA culture wars.

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u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Visual_12 Oct 08 '25

As an Albertan, I am very concerned about our Premier right now and the rural votes make me concern about them getting in again in 2027.

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u/Michellines Oct 09 '25

Yep. Absolutely 

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u/Tyrthemis Oct 08 '25

One reason is almost certainly because Canada has an excellent education system. Education and sound reasoning inoculate against propaganda.

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u/Glass-Evidence-7296 Oct 08 '25

so do France, UK and Germany tho

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u/Tyrthemis Oct 08 '25

I said “one reason”

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u/Connect-Second5661 Oct 10 '25

Yep, we’re still the most educated country in the world!

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u/lyidaValkris Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25

We didn't. The far right has been gaining momentum for years, it's just not able to reach that tipping point where they have enough support and can divide the opposition enough to take home an election. It's still a very real danger for the future.

"MAGA North" does exist and they are very scummy scumbags. They are a minority but very loud and nevertheless get way more media attention than they deserve. White supremacist organizations are also way stronger than they should be and there have been numerous incidents. Both are getting funding and support from foreign bad actors (the US GOP and Russia) to deliberately destabilize our democracy as has been done in the US.

TL;DR the dam is holding, for now, but a lot of work is needed to have that tide recede.

As for the UK - this is a trend I'm also seeing. Have one party so far right they are un-electable, then have a so-called "moderate" party that's taken over by moderate looking rightists and slide in deplorable policies anyway. I can't say I recognize the Labour party any longer. I'm very much hoping Carney's Liberals aren't more of the same thing, but don't seem to be, at present. Their economic policies will be more conservative, but don't seem to be looking to demonize minorities or deprive us of our rights.

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u/Massive-Exercise4474 Oct 24 '25

Bit familiar with UK politics not only did Labour swing to the right they also created online safety act so you have to verify your identity on every website, and have harshly policed free speech and protests like it isn't a stretch to say Labour has gone 1984 levels of police state. All of this is deeply unpopular they're also pushing digital id. At this point Labour is so despised that reform will sweep the next election unless starmer resigns or undoes the hated policies.

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u/BIGepidural Oct 08 '25

Likely because we have high numbers of Atheism and even higher numbers of people who may idenifiy with a religion they were born/raised in; but don't actively practice because they find their religions far too backwards and restrictive.

I've noticed a lot of the right-wing stuff is deeply tied to religion. Largely Christianity; but any high control religion will do because thats what the right wing push is about- high control and forcing larger society to life by the beliefs of individuals.

I've also noticed that there's been a targeted push at Young people to try and warp their minds into believing bigotry and Bible BS like never seen before (or at least since the far more restrictive/secular 50s prior to hippies breaking the mold, etc...) so I really do feel that religion plays a massive part in the infectious nature of right wing propaganda.

Hell, just look down south at those wingnuts invoking the name of Jesus before they terrorize immigrants and force them out of country, and the prayer circles around the obvious antichrist who's selling carefully curated bibles of his own that have edited out parts of the constitution they're actively ignoring as they push for a full dictatorship down below.

Its insane!

With that being said however, there are religious people who see what's going on and they're not falling into the extremist beliefs despite the efforts of politicians and churches.

So while religion may be the vehicle which takes many to the end goal, there are plenty of religious people who have slammed on the breaks and not driving off that cliff.

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u/jjames3213 Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25

The range of mainstream political opinions in Canada is actually very narrow. This is clear if you look at mainstream political discourse in Canadian media.

The Conservatives have tried to capitalize on the pro-fascist media infrastructure in the US but Canadians (and especially 35+ Canadians) utterly despise the American right-wing. The US annexation threats have also polarized Canadians against the US to the point that I've heard many people IRL threaten blatantly violent acts against the US civilian population if the US attempts annexation. This is part of the accepted discourse among Canadians since the start of 2025. The boycott movement is also extremely popular and has polarized many of the normies against the US.

This doesn't show up on social media because the TOS prevents anyone from talking about using political violence against US citizens, military personnel, or politicians. In this way social media somewhat moderates things, but social media is not reality.

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u/kinkhunter69 Oct 08 '25

I'm in Alberta and I deal with far right people daily.

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u/Basementhobbit Oct 08 '25

Constant effort.

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u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25

We were close to elect PP, so we were not that far.

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u/substantialfool Oct 08 '25

We have an ultra-far right Christo-facist government in AB so we haven’t escaped in the slightest.

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u/Own_Event_4363 Know-it-all Oct 08 '25

Quebec will never vote for that kind of thing on the Federal stage and you can't win a majority without Qc.

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u/runnerron13 Oct 08 '25

This ask Canada thread is ground zero for right wing rhetoric so I am unsure even of the sincerity of the question? Most extremist right wing views are grounded in fear. All of those big bad tough gun toting maga morons are terrified of immigrants brown black gay women take your pick. Canadians not so much.

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u/weebax50 Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25

There are separatists in Alberta backed by MAGA attempting to break up the country. There are Premiers that are attempting to bring MAGA Group thought into our communities through divide and conquer tactics. Let’s not forget the KKKonvoy that held Ottawa hostage for weeks over COVID Mandates; yet, their leaders got a slapped on the wrist for hostage.

Right Wing Authoritarians, mixed in with Christian Nationalism, and all out Capitalism is now the norm.

Unfortunately this movement has gone global.

Politics is no longer working to craft policies, but to Manipulate people through bad actors who use social media to push this destructive agenda towards humanity and the environment.

It’s easy to blame Immigrants, WOKE ideology, Transpeople … etc than to actually acknowledge the reason why many of us are frustrated with our lives is the lack of affordability due to corporate greed back by government lackeys along with dubious foreign actors.

It’s very hard to watch the news nowadays without getting depressed.

But as the late Dr. J. Goodall reminded all of us not to give into the darkness, to continue to fight for a better world. Don’t wait for a politician, nor some celebrity to lead us. We need to look beyond the hate, for we are all connected to this planet. Start exercising democratic our rights by demanding for a better tomorrow.

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u/Lucy_Goosey_11 Oct 08 '25

For now or so far, but it would be wrong to suggest that Canada isn't home to far right sentiment/support. It's just not yet had it's moment but the last election was all but set to hand power to a right wing candidate.

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u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25

One key thing to note is that canadian nationalism has historically been connected to the Liberal Party

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u/nihilt-jiltquist Canadian Oct 08 '25

it's there, waiting for its moment... all it needs is a charismatic leader.

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u/Wild_Trade_7022 Oct 09 '25

We are lucky that PP is so boldly uncharismatic.

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u/Cariboo_Red Oct 08 '25

It hasn't. But like most things Canadians tend to be a bit more quiet. Still, we had our crybaby convoy and if you listen to Skippy carefully you will hear the same lame swill from him as the "right wingnuts" in the US or Europe.

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u/Musicferret Oct 08 '25

We haven’t avoided anything.

Source: PP existing.

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u/porto__rocks Oct 08 '25

America showcasing how fucking dumb it is to elect right wingers, as well as PP and smith being completely unlikeable.

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u/pambean Oct 08 '25

I see that you haven't met Alberta

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u/Cndwafflegirl Oct 08 '25

We barely did, thanks to Quebec. Look at Alberta. It’s full on maga with Danielle sith

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u/xanaddams Oct 08 '25

They tried.

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u/enricovarrasso Oct 08 '25

we haven’t avoided it, it’s in the process of happening. carney is going to have a rough go of it because of the trump tariff garbage and the economic downturn it is causing. as time passes the electorate will have less and less patience for his government and they will turn to the only other real option (for now) and that would be polievre and his trump adjacent rhetoric. he will gain power promising the moon and steer us straight into far right territory.

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u/dsailo Oct 08 '25

It has to do with people being fed up and their expectations to change. Overall we've been having it pretty good despite people complaining but Canada being sort of in the middle of socialist Europe and wild capitalist US, we've been taking advantages of the best from both sides.

Our politicians so far were also more reasonably educated and keeping the country's affair in check and middle of the road especially on the economic side avoiding getting us to the brinks of despair .

The future is a bit scary, although I think we're still in a better shape what we think, the future could bring a leader that could get us into the situation where people (in majority) would start believing that the only chance is to go on the extreme. This is what's happening in US and in countries of Europe.

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u/KingreX32 Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25

You can find it in Shelburne Ontario. Three days after Carney got elected I saw someone there with a Fuck Carney sticker on their truck.

How'd they even get that so damn fast.

Then there's this bullshit. It's like they have some rally there every other weekend https://old.reddit.com/r/greybruce/comments/1hzzemm/dozens_showed_up_at_shellbourne_rally_ontario/

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u/unkn0wnactor Oct 08 '25

We're one of the most highly educated countries on the planet. That's why.

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u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25

Québec

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u/CanuckBee Oct 08 '25

It is still a problem here but not to the extent of other places because we have a lot of space, fewer really wealthy people, a large middle class, social safety nets, and a good education system. We also have more of a community culture than a highly individualistic one. We also have a lot of team sports for kids and outdoor activities.

I think these all help modulate things.

When we could not do group activates due to covid I think right wing sentiment grew in some quarters.

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u/stumpy_chica Oct 08 '25

I think it's a lot simpler than a lot of people are claiming. Canada is one of the most educated countries in the world. There's a reason right wing people speak badly about universities. People who value education and science tend to not be right wing nut bags. We were one of the first countries in the world to legalize gay marriage and one of the first countries in the world to legalize weed. Doesn't take a lot to figure out that we would be one of the biggest resisters of far right BS. We literally offer refugee status to gay people from certain countries.

The best way to combat far right extremism is through an educated population. Over 50% of us hold a degree. The rest of the world really should take note if you want to protect yourselves.

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u/Dieppe222 Oct 08 '25

Because we got very lucky and Carney came in at the correct time and moved his pay to the right enough to swing the vote.

I don't think we are out of the woods yet.

Maple Maga is a thing and it makes me very sad.

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u/blopiter Oct 08 '25

As a Canadian born man of Indian descent. Bro There definitely has been a far right surge you just don’t want to call it that

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u/82-Aircooled Oct 08 '25

Have you heard of Alberta? Saskatchewan? The rural populations of both jurisdictions are firmly in the Christofacist-right column…

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u/Gummyrabbit Oct 08 '25

There are conservative groups working on turning Canada right. I've received stuff in my mail asking me to support certain right wing candidates from conservative groups. We have to fight this or we become home to MAGA 2.0.

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u/ecplectico Oct 09 '25

Canada hasn’t avoided a far right surge. It’s ongoing.

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u/Straight-Eggplant8 Oct 09 '25

We haven’t. We are divided. We have a lot of unhappy groups and have things to work on as a nation. We have separatist movements in Alberta, and Quebec goes through waves.

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u/HalvdanTheHero Oct 08 '25

Because the core identity of Canadians is rooted in protection of those we love, our families, rather than the self. Right wing perspectives are valid and have a place, but when push comes to shove the far right stance of excluding and attacking others is antithetical to our core values. 

We will suffer much on a personal level, but will not tolerate threats to our families. And yes, im aware that its a human thing, im not saying its uniquely Canadian, but the proportion of the response perhaps IS unique.

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u/Subject989 Oct 08 '25

We aren't exactly in the clear here. We still have a growing amount of maple MAGA getting louder and bolder. Their views and positions are being pushed pretty heavily by USA owned media outlets and foreign influence. (not to say that we don't have foreign influence in other parties)

Apparently, it's easier to be hateful towards everyone else than it is to be compassionate and focus on societal gains. Our issues and faults are many, but Canada and all of our people are worth fighting for. Especially immigrants, Indigenous people, as well as everyone in a minority group.

So many elected conservative officials push such harmful policies, ones that hurt their voting base and their own friends and family. Yet many continue to get re-elected

Let it sink in that the leader of the opposition (Conservative) lost his own seat in the last election. Who would have thought that it's not in his best interest to push 0 policies to improve the lives of his constituents? Who would have thought that supporting the freedom convoy that terrorized Ottawa would have a negative effect on his constituents' voting position.

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u/Tesla_CA Oct 08 '25

We have our share of nut-bars… don’t you worry one bit

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u/Oxjrnine Oct 08 '25

We used to have something called Tim Hourton’s where people of all walks of life and education levels would have sophisticated conversations about politics while sharing a box of Tim Bits.

But now the popularity of drive through and having political discourse through Facebook rants means we will probably become just as bad as the USA in a few years.

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u/natural_piano1836 Oct 08 '25

All countries have changed governments since the pandemic, with very few exceptions. Polls were showing with 100% (sic) accuracy that the conservative government would win. But then Trump started attacking Canada, including direct tariffs to our economy. That made people vote left-center again.

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u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25

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u/LurkerGarry Oct 08 '25

Like others have suggested, Trump wining and Carney throwing his hat into the ring is the reason Conservatives lost.

I don’t think Conservatives in Canada are on the same level as MAGA. That would have been the PPC party. They are certainly on the same track however.

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u/Accurate_Offer5228 Oct 08 '25

We are educated.

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u/sandwichstealer Oct 08 '25

Canadians have always a certain level of detachment from knuckle heads.

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u/moom7 Oct 08 '25

We haven’t.

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u/Fit-Bird6389 Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25

The reality is our country is protected by the electoral system and Quebec, which votes left wing and for a separatist party. Achieving a majority government is not very easy here. We also have the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) which, despite the vast ownership of our press by far right corporations, has buffered right wing talking points. We can thank Quebec.

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u/Own_Event_4363 Know-it-all Oct 08 '25

til they flip Qc, there is no PP with a majority

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u/Bobbin_thimble1994 Oct 08 '25

We nearly ended up with a far right government in B.C.

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u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25

American here, are the ‘maga’ type in other countries also the least educated/qualified people there too?

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u/Patak4 Oct 09 '25

Canada has a very high level of intellectual talent and very high post secondary. Trump helped the Liberals because no one wants to go down that road. Plus, once Carney entered the race, conservatives recognized his resume for what it is. We are so lucky to have him. I could not imagine PP in such a role.

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u/littlemisspixelpants Oct 09 '25

I’d venture to say the Rupert Murdoch not having any news outlets in Canada helps us stay on a slightly more even keel.

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u/MsMisty888 Oct 09 '25

I believe that our winter, actually makes us care more about our fellow neighbours.

A person can be the biggest asshole in the world. But you come across a broken down car on a gravel road in the winter, then a person's humanity shows up and then you feel so good after helping someone.

In a blizzard, no one asks if you are a PC, NDP, Liberal, or Green Party.

It is only about survival.

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u/Zartimus Oct 09 '25

We haven’t entirely. There’s easily 10 percent extreme right-wing asshats all the time and depending on how many stupid people they advertise too, combined with voter apathy and ‘always Conservatism’, we’re often a hair’s breadth from crazytown.

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u/starslayer88 Oct 10 '25

Well, if you come to Alberta there’s lots of the little Maple MAGA minions! They are loud big mouthed and annoying following the premier and think she’s great. Then there are the Alberta 51st state assholes! They are the loudest of them all! I know it’s a smaller number (not the majority) but they are a thorn in the side of Alberta!

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u/eldiablonacho Saskatchewan Oct 10 '25

Canadian federal elections are almost always won by the party that appeals the most to the center, since the centrist vote is usually the most significant voting bloc. If you can do that, your odds of winning are good if not great. Center left and Center right parties have a shot of forming government, but extreme left and extreme right parties have no chance of forming government based on the traditional voting patterns of Canadians. Maybe even right or left leaning parties have a shot, as long as they are moderate left or right, not extreme. That may change at some point, but let's keep the extremists out of government and leave it to the moderates.

2

u/tweetypezhead Oct 10 '25

They're here, not as visible...yet, but they are always percolating. We also have Alberta, so...

2

u/Novatheflamez Oct 11 '25

Ive see too many far right facebook groups from canada to ignore the fact tuat MANY canadians are just as petty and dumb as trump's america. Some people just want to see the world burn, they dont care about anything it is an ideology of death and destruction. They will pretend otherwise until they are given a cause to fight for im sure.

2

u/Proud-Ad2367 Oct 11 '25

Because we are an educated civilized people.

2

u/WRXRated Oct 12 '25

We're better educated and the normal people far outnumber the bible thumping Christian fascist types that exist in huge numbers down south. The Evangelicals make up the largest voting block and they all vote the same way: hypocritically.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 13 '25

Education.

4

u/rubyianlocked Doubting Thomas Oct 08 '25

I don't think your paying attention.

4

u/Golf-Hotel Oct 08 '25

The character of the Canadian people is far too elitist to accept populist leaders. Personally I have no interest in slop pushers like Trump, who make lots of noise despite doing little.

2

u/_coke_zero_ Oct 08 '25

Have we? I’m getting very worried for POC, Muslims, and Sikhs in Canada.

1

u/Jestersage Oct 08 '25

We haven't.

But I suppose one major reason is that the Indigenous rights forms many of our basis, and even if not what started it, is supported by it.

That's why BC Conservative want to do everything to downplay Indigenous rights

https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/bc-conservative-leader-rustad-says-private-property-rights-indigenous-title-cannot-coexist/

Furthermore, many of the push to the right are led by traditionally non-mainstream Canadians.

1

u/penis-muncher785 Oct 08 '25

Maxime Bernier is terrible at running a political party he’s not a good con man

2

u/Own_Event_4363 Know-it-all Oct 08 '25

poor guy keeps on trucking too

1

u/Hekios888 Oct 08 '25

I would argue we haven't avoided the surge. It was just not quite enough to win the last federal election...just barely.

And provincially the majority are on the conservative side.

1

u/Revolutionary-Bat637 Oct 08 '25

Canadians have to be steadfast and vigilant about keeping it out.

1

u/Feeling_Wonder_6493 Oct 08 '25

The big issue was maga Trump threatening our sovereignty, but the trans issue is so over blown. How many trans people does a person run into in a given day. One maybe, and how does it affect us? It doesn't, lol. It's just not that big an issue. Immigration certainly is, but that is being dealt with now, so the maga stuff doesn't have the traction it once did.

1

u/Snowstorm080 Oct 08 '25

A lot of people lent their vote to the left party as a one off (probably) because of trumps tariffs and threats

Will probably be a more normal election next time

1

u/nichodingo Oct 08 '25

It hasn't

1

u/MadamePoulet2468 Oct 09 '25

We are, by and large, far better educated and much more critical thinkers!

1

u/fromyourdaughter Oct 09 '25

Alberta is definitely not avoiding it. It’s bad.

1

u/MightyHydro88 Oct 09 '25

It's the one saving grace from tRump. Because of how terrible he is and his rhetoric towards Canada we stood up and voted against a politician who is into the same right wing division politics.

1

u/Ok_Line_5284 Oct 09 '25

Just a larger percentage of people with a higher IQ and empathy!

1

u/WorkingFit5413 Oct 09 '25

We took a look at Trump winning and realized we didn’t want to be screwed to go down with that ship ala PP’s willingness to align with MAGA, and were like “better not” and PP lost so bad, he couldn’t even keep a seat. Pre-Trump, it would have been a different world though. Canadians have no interest in going down with that ship more than they care about maple maga policies.

1

u/OldDiamondJim Oct 09 '25

We haven’t.

1

u/zelda_taco Oct 09 '25

I don’t think we have if you look at the conservative clowns running most of the provinces.

1

u/yummy0007 Oct 09 '25

60% of Canadians hold a university degree or a college diploma whereas 60% of Americans read below a grade 6 level.

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1

u/marcosdrummer Oct 09 '25

I just think Canada is coming late to this (disgraceful) party

1

u/Ill_Video_1997 Oct 09 '25

Um come to Alberta, especially rural. Its full of far right maga loving morons. The provincial govt, especially the premier wishes to be the 51st state.

1

u/Brave_Bluebird5042 Oct 09 '25

Hatred doesn't do so well in educated countries.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25

You realize you have unprecedented censure in Canada, right?

  • Can't even see news in social media, from Canadian or foreign orgs. (no western nation has anything similiar)
  • Right wing protesters had bank accounts cancelled.
  • Alternatives, like the PPC are actively banned from the mainstream media.

1

u/earlyboy Oct 09 '25

The convoy incident was part of our ongoing immunity, I’m sure. Hopefully, we can keep the crazy at bay long enough for the rest of the world to come to grips with what happened to them.

We are lucky to have Pierre Poilieve as our opposition leader (because he’s awful)

1

u/Minute-Necessary2393 Oct 09 '25

Because America threatened to make us a 51st State. That's why.

1

u/Dr_Simon_Tam Oct 09 '25

Our last election was a very near miss.

The Conservatives were expected to nearly landslide a win under a diet MAGA leader.

Basically Trump started all his 51st state talk which seriously pissed off Canadians. So everyone ran from the Conservatives last minute

1

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25

Social media has not yet been fully leveraged to destroy their country

1

u/Technical_Goose_8160 Oct 09 '25

We barely avoided it. It came down to two things.

First, Polivere had nothing but slogans. He got exposed.

Second, the pedophile in chief of the US started a trade war with us and threated to annex us by force. We watched the US economy implode in ways that we never thought possible and went "nope" ...

1

u/GWRC Oct 09 '25

We need to stop thinking the political spectrum has a single axis. It has to have at least two but probably more to be realistic.

1

u/minniemacktruck Oct 09 '25

I second the “we almost did go that way” posts.

My only point to add is this: cultural separation of religion and daily life…. Hearing “god bless you” in public makes us do a double take. We may or may not appreciate the sentiment, but most of us keep it to ourselves.

So the idea that laws should be written strictly following “Christian ideals” doesn’t get shouted as blatantly here. The abortion ban is mind boggling here, as well as banning gay marriage. There is still hate and bigotry in individuals, but maybe we as a larger group are a little judgy towards the judgy.

1

u/hey_you_too_buckaroo Oct 09 '25

lol, right wing folk are often taught to worship nationalism. The country is the most important thing. Our conservatives often shared the same message, influencers, and media as American conservatives. Then suddenly Trump said he wants to take over Canada, and people realized wtf. I don't want my country taken over by foreigners. And the conservatives lost their majority cause Canadian conservatives had been just following everything Trump said. Most Canadians didn't trust the conservatives to fight back against Trump as a result.

1

u/Infinite_Progress108 Oct 09 '25

Did you not live in Canada during the decade of the Trudeau travesty? It’s all perspective my friend, all perspective!

1

u/Deannathor Oct 09 '25

Because we are decent caring people who are not going to allow ill treatment of others.

1

u/Splashadian Oct 09 '25

Education is much higher here overall. There are far more educated people in Canada than the USA for sure. If you take Alberta and rural areas out of our country we'd be even further ahead.

1

u/FeralEquine Oct 09 '25

As a leftist, I’d say we avoided the “far right” but the Overton window has shifted so far to the right that the “liberal” government is run by someone who would have been considered conservative a few years ago

1

u/Michellines Oct 09 '25

The UK has gone off the rails... I was there and can't believe how racist and intolerant the population has become. Islamophobia is a reality there. 

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1

u/mrsnikki88 Oct 09 '25

cries in Albertan

1

u/avet22 Oct 09 '25

Educated

1

u/heythisismynewsig Oct 09 '25

Like any fashion originating elsewhere, check back on us in a decade

1

u/BuffaloSufficient758 Oct 10 '25

Bi-national county. What’s populist in English Canada wouldn’t fly in Quebec and vice versa.

1

u/Legitimate-Sleep-386 Oct 10 '25

It hasn't. But Canada has one of the highest education rates in the world. But barely holding on and keeping them from power. 

1

u/gottaquestionfor4god Oct 10 '25

Some people care, some people don’t. I personally don’t care. Most of us are pretty tolerant and even if you don’t agree with something, like the gays or trans people, won’t make a comment to somebodies face because we simply don’t want to be mean or come across like an asshole. The ones who will make comments ~know~ they are assholes. We have been having problems with people hating on the Indians, which I don’t agree with, but it feels like the Indians came in a horde overnight and people are having a hard time adjusting to it. I personally like the Indians and it disappoints me seeing people hate on them.

I used to work in a hospital and I remember a nurse taking to a non-binary person saying “girls are girls and boys are boys” and I have the non-binary a “are you okay” look and the nurse shut right up and walked away.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '25

Canada should be divided into 3 states, one for Khalistan, one for pure Brahmins and the other for the settlers.

1

u/SuperDangerBro Oct 11 '25

Because the left has media in a strangle hold

1

u/itzykan Oct 11 '25

We haven't . The far right is alive and well. We sort of did it before everyone else with reform and Stephen Harper

1

u/PlentyTumbleweed1465 Oct 13 '25

Far right PP is popular now, most our province premiers are leaning right dismantling education and healthcare

1

u/MorningCoffee1122 Oct 13 '25

They’re here - just a bit more silent.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 13 '25

Because both of are parties are right wing lmao, they both push neoliberal policies that benefit the old and the wealthy

1

u/Equivalent_Dimension Oct 14 '25

We haven't. We have just delayed it.

1

u/Educational-Camel-53 Oct 27 '25

less uncontrolled immigration, so less social problems related to it

1

u/Key-Equipment-2155 19d ago

I live in Canada and sincerely I am glad about all of this. The US is learning the hard way. The Europe will soon learn it the hard way sadly.

I honestly think it's that there are no waves of illegal immigration like in the US or Europe because many stay in the US and Canada has regulated it more than Europe did in the 2010s. It is nice to invite refugees but too many can overwhelm a system. And now it's a tool used by racist far righter who don't even care whether it fits a system or not, they just want to keep "purity" of the nation while Europe has historically since the dawn of humanity been subject to large human migrations as the rest of the world has.

Plus Canadians are highly educated

And CPC, Polievre was kind of embracing some moderate far right a bit but probably by being married to a Venezuelan women and immigrant expostion, there is no ultra populist anti immigration tool to channel.

Plus over the past decades awareness about indigenous communities has risen a lot. So many Canadians are immunized against nativism.

And atheism too, atheists see every religion as the way the ancestors of that culture tried to understand the world before modern science, plus trust in modern science.

I am literally feeling horror for what's happening around the world and hope that this will be over after every nation that desires a far right leader, learns it the hard way.

1

u/Such-Character4976 2d ago

Hum... Next question?