U.S. President Donald Trump is congratulating B.C. Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson and Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon on their recent election victories in Canada.
Doerkson led the B.C. Conservatives to a majority government in the Oct. 24 provincial election after NDP Premier David Eby called a snap election two years ahead of schedule. St-Pierre Plamondon’s Parti Québécois won a minority government in Quebec’s Oct. 5 election, defeating the incumbent Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).
Trump took to his Truth Social platform to offer congratulations to both men.
“Congratulations to Lorne Doerkson on his Big Victory,” Trump wrote on Oct. 27. “Conservatives are moving strong in Canada!”
Trump published a similar message for St-Pierre Plamondon alongside an Irish Times article describing the separatist party’s victory as a “blow to Mark Carney.”
“Congratulations to Paul St-Pierre Plamondon on his WIN!” Trump said.
Relations between Canada and the United States have been strained since the start of Trump’s second presidential term in 2025, when he began imposing tariffs on Canadian goods. Tensions escalated this past summer after Prime Minister Mark Carney suspended trade negotiations with Washington on Aug. 21, citing last-minute changes to U.S. demands that he said were unfair and not in Canada’s interests. Washington has disputed Carney’s characterization of the issue.
The United States imposed 50 percent tariffs on roughly $27.6 billion worth of Canadian goods on Aug. 22, shortly after trade talks collapsed. Ottawa announced retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods on Aug. 25, which took effect on Sept. 8.
British Columbia
Eby, who resigned as NDP leader following his election loss, cited his snap election call as necessary amid Trump’s tariff policies toward Canada. He said he needed to secure a stronger mandate from British Columbians to better deal with Trump’s tariffs and their effect on the province.
Eby has repeatedly criticized the tariffs. His government also ordered the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch to remove American alcohol from provincial liquor store shelves.
During the election campaign, Doerkson described Trump as a “bully” but argued that Eby and the NDP had years to improve B.C.’s economy and were wrongly using the U.S. president as a political scapegoat.
The B.C. Conservatives won a decisive victory in the Oct. 24 election, ending nine years of NDP governments in the province. Preliminary results showed the party elected or leading in 64 of the legislature’s 93 seats, compared with 27 for the NDP, and two for the Greens.
Eby won his Vancouver-Point Grey riding but announced his resignation as NDP leader on election night. He has not said whether he will also resign as an MLA.
Quebec
Quebec’s Oct. 5 election also brought a change in government, with St-Pierre Plamondon’s PQ defeating the incumbent CAQ. The PQ won 59 of the National Assembly’s 127 seats, falling short of the 64 required for a majority. The CAQ did not elect a single member.
St-Pierre Plamondon was sworn in as Quebec’s 34th premier on Oct. 21, returning the sovereigntist party to power after more than a decade.
The PQ leader has said his government will not hold a referendum on Quebec sovereignty while Trump remains president. That would push the earliest possible timeline for a referendum until after Trump’s scheduled departure from office in January 2029.
During the provincial election campaign, St-Pierre Plamondon expressed unease with what he described as “words of war” being used to describe U.S.-Canada trade tensions, preferring instead to refer to the situation as a “commercial conflict.”
St-Pierre Plamondon also congratulated Trump in a November 2024 social media post after the former president won a second term.
“American democracy has spoken. I congratulate the new American president Donald Trump on his victory,” he wrote in French. “Quebec and the United States will continue their close and vital collaboration.”
