You may have listened to a politician, defender or friend say that this is the most important choice of our lives.
People of all political stripes are weighing the bets of the next federal elections while taking their choice for whom Canada should have in front amid the United States trade war. CBC asked voters, experts and companies to house if this choice feels different.
“I think that given the political environment at this time, especially with our American counterparts, this election is weighing a lot in the minds of many people,” Tom Tsoumpas told CBC Edmonton this week.
Tsoumpas said voters should think beyond an electoral mandate of four years and consider the next 10.
“However, this election goes, hopefully will lay the foundations for the economic future of our country.”
Speaking in the center of Edmonton on Thursday, John Maclean said that the most important thing for him in this election is the pipes and trade.
“We have to be more self -sufficient, to obtain a better economy for Canada, to be on our own a little more, maybe trade with Europe and other countries.”
Kenzie Fragoso said his priorities include trans and indigenous rights. But he added that he cares about the influence from the south of the border.
“I think Canada bases many of its things in the United States, so it is a little scary what is happening there. What could happen here?”
Janet Brown, a policy and political commentator based in Calgary, said he expects a high electoral participation for this election, because the current political climate is promoting a greater commitment.
Voters have to decide what type of leadership approach is better to face Trump, Brown said.
“What is the correct combination of strong versus intelligent to overcome Trump’s challenge and take Canada to a new place economically?
“It’s going to be a nail biting.”
Nor is it the first time that Canada’s economy and relationship with the United States have been at stake. In 1988, the Canadians saw Brian Mulroney and John Turner passionately discuss the merits of free trade on television.
Brown recalls 1988 as the first election that worked in a federal campaign, and today’s circumstances take her back to that moment.
“I see huge parallels between what the Canadians are fighting then and with what they are dealing now,” Brown said.
“I can see people in 30 to 40 years looking back in this election as a fundamental moment in electoral policy and in Canadian history.”
Leaving politics at the door? A task
Adam Corsaut, president and co -owner of Analog Brewing, said he opened his business in the middle of Trump’s first commercial war in 2018, putting tariffs on aluminum imports. Today you feel like the second round.
“It will be inevitable that the impact of these tariffs will increase our operational costs at a time when everything has increased year, after year, after the year,” said Corsaut.
He says that the brewery strives to maintain politics outside the bar, but in the current environment, it is a difficult task.
“The atmosphere is so supercharged at this time. There are people who are very tribal at this time. And we try not to be.”
“As long as you are in the Canada team in this fight, that’s all I ask.”
Economic stress
Dr. Peter Silverstone, a psychiatrist and professor at the University of Alberta, said that many people feel overwhelmed by the current news cycle, and can be a source of anxiety, but it is also an occasion on which people feel they can have an impact.
“One of the biggest problems is when we have no agency, when we don’t have the ability to make any difference. We do it at this time.”
But it can go beyond political stress, said Silverstone.
“Unfortunately I have lived three main recessions as a psychiatrist, and every time there is a decrease in the economic environment, people’s mental health decreases, sometimes deeply.”
“Many people are worried that we head towards a great economic recession,” he said.
Instead of ignoring those feelings and changing the channel, Silverstone said that talking with friends and family can relieve feelings of stress, along with exercise, full attention or therapy.
