It is not uncommon for Canada’s Conservative Party to be compared to the US Republican Party, which won control of the White House and both houses of Congress last week.
But political scientists say people should not rush to claim the parties — or their leaders — are the same, though there are important similarities between them.
“We have to be a bit subtle here,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University.
“There are similarities in terms of some of the policies and some of the rhetoric, but there are also some differences, and people should acknowledge them.”
‘A history of showmen’
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is often compared to president-elect Donald Trump. Such comparisons are “grotesque,” says Tom Flanagan, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Calgary.
“There’s nothing even remotely like Trump in Canadian politics,” he said.
“Trump is a showman. There’s a history of showmen succeeding big time in the United States in politics [and] business. But, for whatever reason, Canada is a less flamboyant country.”
Béland agrees.
“[P]eople who dislike the Conservatives will use these parallels between Trump and Poilievre to attack Poilievre,” he said. “There are some similarities, but there are also some key differences, in terms of who they are, where they come from, and also their policy visions. They are not identical, far from it.”
Poilievre had a modest upbringing and is a career politician, having first been elected at age 25. Trump grew up in wealth and spent most of his career in business and media before entering politics late in life.
Béland noted the leaders do employ some of the same rhetorical tactics, such as targeting elites. He cited the example of both leaders “talking against Davos and the World Economic Forum.”
“I think one of the challenges for both Ottawa and Washington is that the voters are feeling alienated from the elite,” said Christopher Sands, director of the Canada Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington, DC.
Both leaders also use derisive nicknames to refer to their opponents. Trump referred to his Democratic opponents as “Crazy Kamala,” “Sleepy Joe” and “Crooked Hillary.” Poilievre has described price inflation as “Justinflation” or NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh as “Sellout Singh.”
Abortion, guns
On cultural matters — such as abortion or gun policy — there are some notable dissimilarities. Flanagan says this is due, in large part, to the countries’ different demographics, constitutions and histories.
From a legal perspective, abortion is now a state-level issue in the United States. This follows a 2022 US Supreme Court decision that removed a national right to abortion.
By contrast, abortion is a national policy issue in Canada. It was previously illegal under the Criminal Code, but was decriminalized by the Supreme Court’s 1993 Morgentaler decision. No government has implemented abortion laws since then.
From a voter perspective, abortion is a priority for many voters. The US has more religiously observant voters, so there is a greater natural pro-life constituency, Flanagan says.
In Canada, the Conservative Party is “more tolerant of pro-life voters and supporters and members of caucus,” Flanagan says. But federal politicians have come to regard the issue as a “third rail,” meaning it is an electorally dangerous issue.
“Poilievre’s solution — which is the same as Harper’s solution — is that no government led by him would introduce legislation respecting [abortion],” said Flanagan, who was an advisor to Stephen Harper before he became prime minister.
Similarly, on gun policy, the Republicans are to the right of Conservatives, in part due to the constitutional law that has developed around the issue. Unlike in the US, there is no constitutional right to bear arms in Canada.
“The Liberals are clearly more enthusiastic about firearms control than the Conservatives are,” Flanagan said. “But the Conservatives are not as permissive [on gun policy] as most Republicans.
“When [Harper] was in power, he repealed the long-gun registry, for example, although he didn’t advocate for a right to bear arms.”
‘Departure from orthodoxy’
On economic issues, there are more similarities between the Republicans and Conservatives, experts say.
“In many countries, there’s been a realignment so that the parties of the right are appealing more to working-class and middle-class voters,” said Flanagan. “The parties of the left are appealing more to highly educated, high-income voters.”
“We have to understand some of these issues — like the cost-of-living crisis, inflation and populism — are not just about Canada and the US,” said Béland. He is currently completing a fellowship at a university in Italy, and says he hears people there talking about the same economic concerns.
Exit polls from the US election show working-class voters were more likely to vote for Trump than for Harris by a 56 to 42 per cent margin.
The day after the election, Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent who was a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020, expressed his disappointment with what he called a “disastrous” Democratic campaign on the social media platform X.
“It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them,” he said in his post. “While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change.”
Flanagan points to Trump’s promise to exempt hospitality workers’ earnings from tips from income tax as one example of a policy geared towards working-class voters. Trump’s move has been greeted with skepticism by economists.
A similar change has been happening in Canada under the Conservative Party for years, Flanagan says, recalling how Harper reduced the GST from 7 per cent to 5 per cent. “It was a purely political move,” said Flanagan, who noted the cut was popular with voters but not endorsed by economists. Ironically, Harper himself trained as an economist.
Continuing the trend of pro working-class policies, Poilievre’s Conservatives have said they would support a ban on replacement workers at federally unionized workplaces.
“As conservative parties [appeal to] working-class and lower- and middle- class voters, I think you’ll see more departure from economic orthodoxy,” Flanagan said.
One example is the Republican Party’s plan to hike tariffs on imported goods. Republicans, who have favoured free-market principles in recent decades, would have traditionally opposed tariffs because they raise the cost of goods, says Flanagan.
But Republican working-class policies do not fit neatly within the Canadian context.
In Canada, with its smaller and more trade-exposed economy, tariffs are still seen as being harmful to both business and workers.
“I think there is obviously support for free trade on the Conservative side,” Béland said.
Reduced immigration
Immigration policy is another area where the parties have adopted broadly similar positions, although for different reasons.
Both the Republicans and Conservatives have promised to reduce immigration. But Trump has cited public safety and crime as reasons for doing so, while Poilievre has focused on a lack of infrastructure to support newcomers, says Béland.
“Poilievre’s rhetoric on immigration is different,” he said. “It emphasizes more economic and policy issues.”
Sands, of the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, agrees. Poilievre has done a good job of saying there “needs to be a plan” to support immigrants when they arrive in Canada, he says.
Fear-mongering about immigration would not appeal to Canadians, says Béland.
“You have a higher percentage of foreign-born [people] in Canada than in the US,” he said. “In terms of electoral calculus, adopting such harsh rhetoric against immigrants … [would] alienate probably a greater proportion of the population.”
‘Loose supporters’
Lastly, the two leaders are markedly different in their philosophical consistency.
Poilievre has been a conservative since his teens. In 1999, he submitted an entry into the “As prime minister, I would” contest. In it, he outlined core political beliefs, some of which are reflected in the current Conservative Party slogan: “Axe the Tax, Build the Homes, Fix the Budget, Stop the Crime.”
Trump, however, has shifted identities over time. Flanagan notes he was a registered Democrat before switching to the Republican Party.
“Trump started from a desire to be president,” he said. “He grabbed onto where he could see there were loose supporters.
“Trump really doesn’t have any well thought-out philosophy of government that I could see.”
“So under Trump, the Republican Party’s policies will be a bit of a hodgepodge … It just won’t follow any kind of consistent pattern.”
