In April, 2025, twenty-million Canadians cast ballots in an election defined by economic turmoil, a cost-of-living crisis, and threats of outright annexation by the United States. It was an election that, more than any vote in recent memory, split Canadians down the middle.
On one side were voters convinced that their own country had been broken by years of abuse and mismanagement—Canadians who no longer believed in the state's ability to do its job, let alone build big things, and never mind fight and win a trade war. On the other side were those motivated by the existential threat posed by a single man: Donald Trump.
Over thirty-five days of campaigning, Liberal leader Mark Carney and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre criss-crossed the country speaking to those duelling anxieties. Journalist Justin Ling watched it all from up close, paying particular attention to how Canada's 45th general election scrambled its priorities and put the country at the forefront of the global resistance to a mad American president.
Smart, witty, and superbly observed, The 51st State Votes is a gripping account of a campaign that promises to define Canada for the next century.