Toronto, Ont. (WBEN) Canada's Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, won Tuesday's federal election.
It's considered a stunning victory as just months ago it looked like conservatives were headed for a landslide.
After President Trump started suggesting Canada become the 51st state, there was a surge of nationalism, and many Canadians moved to back Carney, as a rejection of Trump.
Joe Warmington, a columnist with the Toronto Sun told WBEN the implications of a Carney victory should not be taken lightly in Western New York.
"If you listened to Carney's speech last night, he really took some shots at President Trump. He said Canada will look for other trade opportunities in Asia and Europe. That stokes the trade war in an enormous way. I'm a little concerned that we are about to go down the route of some kind of travel ban,
or something like that (at the northern border)."
Warmington said the rhetoric in Carney's speech will affect the relationship between Canada and the United States.
"This is a really big deal for Western New York," he said. "There's a lot of money spent in Niagara Falls and Buffalo. Obviously Bills and Sabres games. We have a great relationship. But if that dries up, and people are encouraged to not go there, and there's a stern trade war, that's really going to affect it. We'll have to wait and see, but it's up to President Trump."
Does Warmington sense some kind of government directive on cross border travel?
"I do. Mark Carney is a globalist. He was big on vaccine mandates and all of that. Guys like me didn't go to Buffalo for three years because of that. There's a lot of people that won't go there. It's already happening. This is big trouble ahead," he warned.