The Current - Trump and tariffs are dictating ballot decisions for these B.C. voters

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump is looming large over the Canadian election. We hear from three voters — one who intends to vote Liberal, one NDP and one Conservative — about how Trump’s actions have informed their decisions.

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and let your email do the talking. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway and this is The Current Podcast. I'm in British Columbia, specifically in the cities of Surrey and Burnaby, the first stops in our election road trip. And welcome to Fraser Park Restaurant. Hi, good morning, I'm Matt.

You don't know each other, I know you, but you don't know me, I don't. How are you? Good, I'm good, thank you. Thank you for having us. I'm flattered, I'm flattered. This place is tucked away in an industrial area of South Burnaby. It's a popular, family-run institution.

It's busy here? It's getting there, it's getting there, no complaint. We've been doing that for 27 years, so we did something right. Tell me about the restaurant. I came to Canada working for Fryby's Sausage. My background is German sausage maker and studied food science as well. Came to Fryby's and worked there for seven years

until they moved out to Langley. My wife and I looked at each other, no young family, we don't want to go in the countryside, stay here, looked around and found this place and yeah, went for it. What do you love about this community? Good question. Our immediate customer base, we know almost everybody by name. I mean it's a family restaurant and it's true. It's sense. And I've seen customers in generations, so there's a new generation coming in and then you see older people sometimes leaving and you know their kids coming and they bring kids and it's just great.

Your wife is in the back in the kitchen. Yeah. Can we go in and say hello? Come. Hi, hi, hi. I'm Matt. Nice to meet you finally. How are you? I'm good, I'm good, I'm just busy. It's very busy in here, look at the size of the things going on. Not really, this is not busy. These are mostly workers but on Saturday it's mostly out of town, family. Tell me what's on the grill here right now. All right, now that's the pancake. We're making the two pancakes. Look at this. It's a huge pancake. We're more generous here. That's how we started the business. That's why maybe it stay long, because we kind of that's the way I like

it it's all made by us somebody's waiting for their breakfast I don't want to interrupt you we'll let you get working on those eggs thank you very much I'm also happy to meet you it's great to be here thank you we're gonna get some breakfast soon so thank you okay Oh yeah, okay. Okay. This is like a gentleman. So I have two here. I'm at one of the tables in this restaurant, tucked into the corner with three guests,

British Columbians who are engaged voters, each planning to vote for a different party come April 28th. Sami Jo Rumbawa owns a small business with her sister, is a youth worker and a community organizer and she's planning to vote for the NDP. Connor Kuznick is 20 years old, works part time at Safeway, he's a student at Quantalyn Polytechnic University, he's leaning conservative and Tyrone Lirondel is a retired television news editor, also worked in reality TV as an actor, he plans to vote Liberal. Thank you all for

being here with us thank you for having us thank you glad to have you here this is the first time you can vote federally yes yes and i'd like to mention that many people born 2005 and after this is their first opportunity to vote in a federal election just recently i voted for the first time in my life in october in the provincial election and you'd be surprised to know that I actually voted for the NDP in that election. But I would like to talk about the 18-29 age bracket for voters in Canada because this election for me is coming down to somewhat of a generational divide.

The Liberal Party, for many young people, represents two things. The first is an untenable status quo. Pierre Poilieff's messaging of a lost liberal decade is on the minds of many young people. And the second thing is the Liberal Party seems to represent the interests of individuals who, older generations, who really shouldn't have a stake in young people's future. That's what it comes down to for me. So for you that, I mean we'll get into some of the specifics, but for you that top issue is that intergenerational, the fact that people like yourself, 20 year olds, feel as though the future is not particularly bright for them? Mm-hmm, and I don't want

to get into demagogic rhetoric here, but we feel that the rug has kind of been pulled out from our feet and It all has to do with cost of living and the housing affordability These are issues that don't affect me personally now, but I can't help but think down the road we need to lay the groundwork to fix these issues and That's what it all comes down to. Alright, we'll get into that. Sammy Jo, for you, what is this election about? This election is about a voice. It's about the community's voice.

It really is about holding the politicians accountable for what they say they're going to do and for what they have done as well. So we're really looking at character in a politician as well as, you know, the party's values and integrity. Those are all things to pick a politician as well as you know the party's values and integrity. Those are all things to pick up on as well. Taro, for you what is this election about? For me it seems to be fighting this this this swing the violent swing to the right that's happening in the United States and their threats against Canada and I and you can see that sort of stuff happening here with the truckers'

protests. There was a big right-wing sort of swing on that. And I just feel like we're in danger of losing our country, like literally losing our country, the United States. Let's talk a bit more about that because for a lot of people, the elephant in the room and there are individual issues as well, but for a lot of people, the elephant in the room in this campaign is the US president. As I was saying to somebody else, he's not on the ballot, but in some ways he is on the ballot and what he is saying has rattled Canada and rattled Canadians coast to coast. We're hearing that here.

We've been in Burnaby and in Surrey and talking to people who feel uncertain. They feel threatened. They worry about their economy. How do you see that, Tyrone? How do you see the threat playing out from the United States? Well, it seems clear they're going to attack the economy first and that they're also trying to divide us with trying to chip Alberta away, getting them to sort of reject Canada. You think Alberta is going to reject Canada?

I think that, I think that, from what, I'm from Edmonton originally, so I still have a lot of relatives and stuff like that, and no one I know is personally, you know, cheering on Donald Trump or saying that we should become Americans, but that sentiment does seem to be stronger there, and maybe in Saskatchewan than other provinces.

Sammy Jo, you had your finger up as I was asking about the threat from the United States. Well, I'm just thinking about just when I was in high school, we did not talk about U.S. politics at all. And so even with high school students right now, even as young as my son at 10 years old, he knows Donald Trump's name. And that is crazy to me. What does that tell you? Well, it tells me that people are paying attention. It tells me that social media plays a big part of it.

It tells me that there is a lot of disinformation out there, but it tells me that Canadians are paying attention now. You know, it took something like this to have people vote and pay attention and ask questions and learn about our Canadian politics. What are you worried about when it comes to the threats coming from the United States? Well, I mean, affordability, of course, it's the cost of living. Everything is going up. You know, people are losing their jobs.

If if people can't afford to run their small business or bigger businesses, we have things that are closing down. And that means that people are losing their jobs and not being able to pay their rent or even basic things like groceries. Groceries are interesting. Connor, you work in a grocery store. I work part-time as a grocery clerk at Safeway and... How do you see the tensions with the United States playing out there in the grocery aisle? Well, there's a certain problem going on with sourcing items that come from the United States and going on with sourcing items that come from the United States and staple items that we're always supposed to have on the shelves like corn and watermelon and whatnot are becoming

difficult to source because they're going to be more expensive coming from the United States and secondly, customers don't want them. The bi-Canadian movement has really resonated in the minds of many Canadians. What is that like to see customers come in and I mean do they ask you like is this from the United States? Yes. Is this from Canada? All the time they can come from a different aisle of the store and tell me as I'm stocking bananas or something hey I was going to buy this but this is from the United States I can't do that. It's kind of like unsolicited advice. I know many people have been, at the beginning it was neat,

but now it's kind of gone on a little bit to the point where it's detrimental to our work. What do you feel beyond the the grocery aisle? What do you think the threat from the United States has meant when it comes to how people are thinking about their vote in this campaign? I have an interesting perspective and I think that if we allow this election to be derailed by foreign politics, we are in some ways proving Donald Trump right, that Canada is sort of a puppet that can be abused by the United States. I think that we need to strengthen Canadian identity. I think that we need to differentiate ourselves between Canada and the United States by focusing on domestic policy and not on foreign policy.

And so in that, why you're voting conservative, why is Pierre Pauli of the person in this moment when we have these threats coming from the United States, why is he the person that you think is best equipped to protect this country? Well, throughout his entire career he's been labeled a political attack dog. And I think we need a political attack dog right now. We don't need a political lap dog to stand up to Donald Trump. And when I say attack dog, I'm talking about a person who relishes the opportunity to criticize others and hold them accountable. Who's the lap dog? I was going to say, I just wish if Poliev was going to be an attack dog, I hope he

would attack Donald Trump and not other Canadians. I feel he's dividing the country. How have you seen that? How have you seen him dividing the country? Well, if I go back to back to COVID and you know his support of the truckers, You know, in a very divisive time, when we really needed to pull together, and his support of these guys, who always talked about freedom, but never talked about responsibility. What was our response,

what is every person's responsibility in a crisis, is that we all pull together and help. We don't all start yanking in different directions. Sami Jo, you were nodding there. I'm nodding because you have to look at a party's political character in regards to their politicians. You know, as you said, if you can actually attach a lot of the names of politicians who were part of that freedom convoy. And so that's concerning to me if they're going to be, you know, leading the country or have a say in that.

And it's, you know, for me, I work with settlement services and I work with the immigrant population and vulnerable population, and that is very concerning to me. Conor, do you worry that the attack dog, to Tyrone's part, when you're talking about an attack dog, that the attack dog might be attacking the wrong person? Well, I think that the leader of the opposition in Canada, standing up to Justin Trudeau for

the most part, is about the same as being the leader of Canada standing up to the United States in terms of power dynamic. I think that Pierre Poliak has been very clear that he doesn't like Donald Trump. Donald Trump has said, he's stupidly no friend of mine on multiple occasions. Tyrone, do I have this right? You'd voted NDP in the past, right? I tend, yeah. Traditionally, I'm an NDP voter.

And so I introduced you as somebody who is leaning to the liberal. Walk me through that. I have no qualms with the NDP. I, again, I've been a long- time NDP voter. I have no qualms with Jagmeet Singh. You know, unfortunately, they're not in a position to win. If there was another liberal NDP minority government, that wouldn't bother me in the least. We got dental out of that. Yes, we did. And Poliev has said don't worry we're not gonna take your your your dental away but is he gonna

win prove it. Exactly. Would you hear that? I mean we've heard that from a number of NDP voters. Voters who I mean this is about strategic voting in some ways but they also feel like in this moment it's a two-horse race and and that the NDP for whatever reason is not part of that race. What goes through your mind? I feel it's constituency based. Have you met your MP? Have they been in your events or listened to your problems or accepted your call at

their constituency office? So I really believe that each riding is different across Canada, of course, but when it comes down to it, I know that I vote regarding my values and my integrity and knowing a candidate that I can count on. And so that's been my experience. So Tyrone's point was that he can't vote his values because he worries that the broader values that he might support are under threat.

Well, that's the thing. At the end of the day, with a minority government, we did get a lot of things in regards to dental care, pharma care, all of that. And so, you know, when I go to bed at night, I feel good. And the main thing about that is that, you know, there's still a fight. It's always going to be a fight. And that's where we say that every vote matters and nobody should be taking anything

like, like for, like you can't take anything for granted, basically. What do you make of it? And if I, you know, sorry, if I want to, if I'm going to do, as, as the representative liberal here, I use in little quote marks, if I may be allowed to just do a tad of Trudeau bashing, if it's one thing I really, really am choked about is not having any electoral reform so that I could vote a concept conscious with a single transferable vote or whatever and I could vote with my heart and not

constantly as we tend to do in Canada is voting against somebody. Here's a question for you. What's your email address saying about your Canadian business? First impressions matter and your email says a lot. It's your customers first look at your brand.

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that Tyrone has done? There is concern when we're in Bernabey the drug meets and could lose his seat yeah how do you understand that i mean that that's why i say there's everything is at risk and you know with a really short election you know the shortest i believe uh... you know that's where people need to get out there you know you see and t p signs uh... you know upper they're prepared. And so this is where

that candidate, you know, is going to prove that they've been doing a great job whether they have been in their seat. Like Don Davies has been my MP for a very long time. I just recently moved to Burnaby. But he has proven himself in our constituency for what he has done to the community and what he's still going to do and I think a lot of that has to do with the character of a candidate. Connor you've described yourself as a Red Tory. Yes. What does that mean? Someone who is very concerned with Canadian tradition but may not be a pro capitalist. They are very skeptical of the business class and pro-business policies.

There are a lot of people who say that a red Tory is kind of like a liberal, kind of not masquerading as a Tory, but a liberal that has some Tory values or a conservative that has some liberal values, shared values. Are you comfortable with where, I mean I ask you this as a conservative, are you comfortable with where the party is right now? I'd love for the party to get reclaimed by Red Tory values I just don't see it happening with Pierre Pauli. I have in power. I still will vote for him regardless though Tyrone are you comfortable with I mean people have characterized Mark Carney's moving the Liberals

Away from the left towards the center center right center left, but somewhere more toward the center Is that something you're comfortable with? Well again as a traditional NDP supporter you would think I am like oh it's now moving further away from me but I'm not concerned by that because I think that will gain them more voters and maybe take some votes away from the Conservatives. To you it's really about the math. It really is and I can't like with with the conservatives I'm just not sure that they... Polyev seems like a populace to me. You know... And that's a bad word too? I it is. The cute little slogans and the whatever the rhyming couplet slogans and alliteration and stuff like that is just bringing the

dialogue down to a point where we're getting into that soundbite politics where you just got a little zinger in there. And when we get into just quick little slogans all the time, we're not having a deeper understanding of what these problems are, and it's diluting the whole discussion to to sound bites. Sammy Jo? Yeah, I mean that's the whole thing are people showing up are are are these MPs showing

up to uh... community events or even uh... talking about the real issues when somebody wants to just kind of avoid the question and not actually give an answer that's concerning because we face big wicked serious problems Yeah, and we need a solution and we need like a plan and I think a lot of supporters with the work with with the NDP is really about the working class like actually walking in our shoes and Experiencing and being able to see what everyday people are doing

in their everyday lives and listening to our struggles and actually doing something about it. If you're 20 years old, Connor, you were talking about intergenerational fairness or lack thereof. Tell me about it. Can you imagine owning a house in the future? Well, I'm an only child, so I'm in a position where... Here, here, me too. I'm in a position where I'm an only child so I will be in a position to inherit some of the generational wealth of my parents which means I'm privileged but for many people that's not a reality and Pierre Pauliev's housing platform

resonates with me personally. Why? I think that if Pierre Polyev is elected, and he serves a three, four year term, the groundwork that the conservatives will do will pave the way for inexpensive, or at least more affordable housing in the years to come. Do people of your generation think that if Polyev wins, that they'll be able to get a house? That he will somehow manage to create the conditions

to get them into the housing market? Yes, yes. I think that he has the best housing platform out of any of the candidates, and young people are recognizing that. That's why 18 to 29 age bracket is dominated by the Conservative Party. Similarly, the 30 to 45 age bracket is dominated by the Conservative Party. Tyrone, I don't want to pitch you against each other. No, no, but I would say, you would say I do agree that housing is an issue. And I, like you, only child, I was very lucky to get some wealth when my parents passed on. Do you understand

that fury that young people feel that they won't be able to own a home? I totally do. I have a 22-year-old and a 20-year-old and the 20-year-old's still living with me. And I do understand that. Sami Jo, do you understand the anger that people feel around affordability and what – I mean, again, the polls are different now than they were before. But Pierre Polyev was able to kind of tap into that in some ways, people believe. Well, first off, I do want to say thank you to the both of you Connor and Tyler for just acknowledging or Tyrone sorry for acknowledging your privilege you know because as you both mentioned as only children I'm for me I'm I'm an oldest of

three raised by a single mom and I am currently a single mom right now as well and so of course affordability and housing is super top of mind and you know it's a concern for everybody. What do you think people are looking for in this community when it comes to leadership from whoever wins the election to get them into that market to help deal with issues of affordability? Put us on the table. People are, everyday people are looking to have a voice at a table and I think when you're talking about community and you're not involving them on the table to make those decisions that is what's detrimental because it's like everything else when you're talking about you know issues of certain communities but those communities are

not present what is the point and then making everybody accountable I mean we are the people we're the ones that are voting these people in. And whether you're going to be, you know, voting the NDP one time or liberal, it's really up to you. But that's where the education comes in as well. And we don't, we want to like vote to be optimistic and not vote by fear, you know? And I feel like that's what's happening with the US. Conner, you study political science. Why is it important to have the opportunity to speak

with people that you might strongly disagree with politically, but actually to have kind of the civil conversation? Why is that important to you? Because when we're online, we don't view individuals as people. They are icons on a screen. But in-person discussions offer a glimpse into someone's soul, their perspective. It's important to have these discussions for that very reason. It humanizes the opponent. And I want to say this. Nobody is evil.

Nobody is evil, and no political party is intrinsically evil. I would vote for the NDP. I would vote for the liberals. And I am going to vote for the NDP, I would vote for the Liberals, and I am going to vote for the Conservatives, but policy disagreements shouldn't divide the country. We've talked about the big issues that are around this campaign, and I mean the country feels like there are a lot of people who are scared in the country, there are a lot of people who are really uncertain, they wonder about the future, they wonder about the future

of Canada. After the election, Connor, what do you hope, when you think about the future of Canada? Where do you find hope? I think that for we've had a decade of economic stagnation and I don't really think it's possible for things to get worse So no matter who wins the election, we are looking forward to brighter days ahead of us Tauran as a 64 year old if I if I say, it can always get worse. As the Bart Simpson thing where Bart says, this is the worst day of my life, and Homer

goes, ah, Bart, worst day so far. So it can always get way worse. But what I hope for Canada is what I'm seeing is more of a unity and more of a discussion. Pride in Canada. I've seen more Canadian flags. And I used to, you know, when you go down to the States or whatever and everyone's flying American flags, I kind of almost found that a little vulgar for some reason. It seemed American pushy.

But now I can see why people do that. And I feel a pride in Canada. I think we can work together and and join and make and make the country strong on its own without having to acquiesce to the powers down south. Sami Jo for you if you take the politics out of it and just talk about you as a person I'm not saying that you know politics is not you know dehumanizing, but you as the person, what do you hope for from this country? For me, having a 9-year-old son and being from the Filipino community, politics is a very, very touchy subject in any community.

The practice of talking about politics in a safe manner is extremely important. And so what I hope for this election is to really make people go, hmm, what could I have done better? What could I do in the future? And what's going to happen now? You know, and just kind of make those politicians accountable for what they say they're going to do. I'm really glad to have the chance to talk to you all about this. This is, I mean, it's a moment in this country. There are different perspectives on this, but to get people together at the same table to talk about those big issues and do it respectfully and constructively is really important. So thank you very much.

Thank you. I'm lucky to be here. Thank you. That's our voter panel, Sami Jo Rumbawa, Tyrone Lirondelle, and Connor Kuznick here with us in the Cafe in Burnaby, British Columbia.