Tucker Carlson desired conflict with the Trudeau team. He was given one.

Alberta’s CALGARY — On Thursday, Justin Trudeau and his ministers retaliated against Tucker Carlson, a political provocateur residing south of the border.

“It’s coming to Canada, don’t ask that question,” stated Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez. It’s here already.

The first openly homosexual member of parliament to be elected in Alberta, Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault, referred to Carlson as “the mouthpiece of the MAGA Conservative far-right” and condemned his derogatory remarks about LGBTQ people, including jokes about transgender persons and homophobia, throughout the day.

He declared, “It’s abhorrent and we won’t stand for it.”

In the run-up to an anticipated election in 2025, Ottawa’s reaction to Carlson intensified the American-style culture war that is beginning to permeate Canadian politics.

With a sold-out matinee for 4,000 in Calgary and a stadium event for 8,000 in Edmonton on Wednesday, Carlson’s self-described aim to “liberate Canada” was realized, demonstrating that “whitelash” and grievance politics are popular with Alberta’s well-heeled populace.

The former prime-time celebrity, who made an estimated $20 million annually at Fox News, cautioned the Calgary audience that Ottawa politicians pose a threat to their riches and influence.

Two hours of catharsis were provided by his afternoon show, where the former Fox News anchor argued that anger is a reasonable reaction to whatever that Canadians may be going through in these post-pandemic days.

Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith came on stage with Carlson to talk about oil politics and her personal conflict with Ottawa.

The event planners sought out Smith, a self-described libertarian conservative, after Carlson declared in November that he was traveling north to cause problems.

Smith berated Ottawa during their back and forth, and she urged Carlson to go after Canada’s environment minister. She remarked, “I wish you would put Steven Guilbeault in your crosshairs,” to raucous clapping and cheers.

Guilbeault charged Smith of normalizing language that may be seen as an encouragement to political violence on Thursday in Ottawa.

“When we get together, we can disagree strongly and beat our fists on the table, but that’s not how things should be done in Canada—inciting violence against people who disagree with you.”

Using Trump as a political foil, the Liberals ran attack commercials last fall that likened the team of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to MAGA Republicans. The party plans to continue this strategy into the upcoming election.

Guilbeault denied on Thursday that Poilievre and Donald Trump are being compared by liberals. Rather, the Liberals made an effort to elicit a response from the Conservative leader by pressing Poilievre to denounce the “hateful and violent words.”

Carlson utilized the prime minister as a punchline and cracked jokes about the LBGTQ community while performing live in Calgary. The crowd laughed as well.

During his opening remarks at the Liberal caucus retreat on Thursday, Trudeau mentioned Carlson just in passing. However, he accused Poilievre of supporting Vladimir Putin after the Conservatives voted against changes to a free-trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine.

“To appease Putin apologists, like Tucker Carlson and those who enable him, Pierre Poilievre and his Conservatives chose to vote against support for Ukraine, calling it a faraway foreign land,” Trudeau stated.

Russia and Ukraine did not take the Calgary stage. Rather, Carlson devoted most of his time to defending parental rights and criticizing liberals and progressives, particularly the Trudeau administration, for nearly everything.

He said that there are scams in politics everywhere, “perhaps even in my country.” He went on, “I would know.” That’s the only subject I truly understand well.

His 20-minute lecture concluded with a pep talk that inspired Albertans to wage an existential struggle.

“You must transform within. He said, “Your attitudes need to shift and your shyness needs to be replaced by boldness. To finish, he threw in a little conspiracy theory.