Dear Readers, by the time you read this, the fate of Canada for the next four years should be becoming clear. Mark Carney, known to us Brits as the ex Governor of the Bank of England, is going head-to-head with Pierre Poilievre. In what seemed like a sure fire win for Poilievre’s Progressive Conservatives only a few months ago, Carney’s Liberals are now expected to win. What happened? Donald Trump happened, with his referring to Canada as America’s ’51st State’ and his general disrespect for the country. Then there’s the little matter of the tariffs. Trump has boasted that he can bring Canada to the negotiating table through reducing the country to economic ruin, though he hasn’t completely ruled out using military force if necessary.

Much of this is most likely bluster, but Trump has succeeded in doing what Justin Trudeau, and the leaders before him, couldn’t. Even in Quebec, with its long history of separatism, the number of people who feel ‘proud to be Canadian’ rose from 45 per cent to 58 percent following Trump’s intervention. You can feel the difference as you walk around in Toronto – shops display signs indicating which of their products are ‘Canadian made’, Indigo bookshop has beefed up its section on Canadian authors, and there are maple-leaf flags everywhere.

What will this mean for the election? The Conservatives have been wrong-footed by Carney’s arrival. They were hoping to go into battle against the deeply-unpopular Justin Trudeau, but instead they’ve got a money man, who many people feel would be the best placed to face off against Trump over the economy. Poilievre himself is something of a conundrum – a supporter of abortion rights and public healthcare, but looking to reduce immigration and make it harder for people to claim asylum in Canada. Commentators seem to see him as someone who is not nimble politically – one journalist observed that, following the terrible events in Vancouver a few days ago, when someone drove their car into people celebrating a Filipino festival, killing 11 people, Poilievre’s speech in Vancouver didn’t mention the event at all.

Whatever the outcome, there is no doubt that there are a lot of internal problems in Canada that need addressing: housing, homelessness, mental health, healthcare, to name but a few. But it seems as if Canada’s big, brash, increasingly ugly adversary across the border will suck up all the political air in. the medium term. We continue, unfortunately, to live in interesting times.