Fragile Grid

The massive power outage that plunged large swathes of Spain, Portugal, and parts of France into darkness this week is more than a regional mishap; it is a flashing red warning for the rest of the world.

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In a remarkable twist of irony, it was Donald Trump, not Mark Carney, nor Pierre Poilievre, who became the decisive figure in Canada's recent federal election.

What began as a predictable contest marked by fatigue with a decade of Liberal governance transformed into something else entirely: a referendum on Mr. Trump's vision of Canada. His taunts about turning the country into America's "51st state," his belittling of the US-Canada border as "artificially drawn," and his looming tariffs on Canadian auto exports lit a fire under an electorate that had otherwise seemed resigned to change.

New Prime Minister Mark Carney understood this shift better than anyone. A political newcomer with an elite banking background, he could easily have been cast as out of touch. Instead, he ran not just against his Conservative rival, but against the shadow of a US President determined to reduce Canada to a bargaining chip.

In his victory speech, Mr. Carney declared: "President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us." That was not political theatre; it was the emotional core of his campaign.

This election became a story about sovereignty, not in the abstract, but in concrete terms. Mr. Trump's threats to upend trade ties, impose punitive tariffs, and undermine long-standing diplomatic norms made the stakes feel immediate. For many Canadians, it wasn't just a matter of policy; it was personal. The ballot became a tool of resistance.

Mr. Poilievre's Conservatives, though domestically focused, were dragged into this framing. Their ideological alignment with Trumpian themes; small government, fossil fuel revival, culture war rhetoric, only deepened the perception that a Conservative victory might echo or empower Mr. Trump's approach north of the border. That perception proved fatal.