They observe a difficult marriage when the world looks into the relationship between the United States and Canada. Significant societal differences are juggled by long-time allies who have n’t seen a single shot fired in anger between them since the War of 1812.
Canada and the United States are closely linked in both business and security, and they almost have the same amount of business as Americans close in November. What do some of its residents hope will happen on Election Day in 2024, in their opinion?
Married couple Mary and Art both work in training. People of British Columbia just cast ballots in American elections despite having dual citizenship with the United States. This fall, their major choices are, of course, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate successfully since President Joe Biden bowed outside, and former President Donald Trump, her Democratic enemy. The couple targeted the potential second term of Trump as their greatest concern as they set the tone for their fellow Canadians.
Kamala Harris ‘ entry into the race has greatly eased that concern, Mary said. America serves as the foundation for Western democracies ‘ ability to compete with autocratic nations like China and Russia. Donald Trump has made it abundantly clear that he has no desire to challenge them.
Art reaffirmed that a victory would preserve the world order that had come into being following World War II.
” There’s been no election where we have n’t had to hold our noses a bit for the vote we cast, but the idea that Trump might pull out of NATO and support Putin and Xi Jinping,  , perhaps because of secret real estate deals,  , is so destabilizing that we’d cast our ballots for a Democrat ticket of Dracula-Godzilla before contemplating Trump-Vance”, he said.
Art deplored the Republican Party, which he claimed might have caused him and his wife to reflect on their votes and that it no longer exists. As a result, he sees the 2024 cycle as more heated than 2016 or 2020.
” There’s always deranged sniping going on between both sides, so that’s not different”, he explained. ” But so far in this cycle, there’s not been a battle of ideas. Our goal is for the presidential debate to feature both candidates as people of principle, basing their differing perspectives on moving forward based on both candidates ‘ viewpoints and beliefs rather than on who despises and wants to destroy America. It is absurd to assume that someone running for political office does it because they want to sabotage the process. It is unsettling to think that some of our neighbors in America accept that as a reasonable assumption.
Mary lamented that the most crucial political process in the United States turns into a screaming match.
She said that “elections should be about people choosing between various sets of policies and different approaches to pressing issues.” ” This time, it’s insulting and who has the best snappy comeback. That accomplishes nothing”.
Across the country, just outside Toronto, Don and Debbie had careers in training and sales, respectively, before retiring. They are currently a mix between progressive Ontario and the more traditional Phoenix region. They keep that secret among their American friends, but they also support a Harris victory.
” We winter in Arizona, so we’re obviously concerned about what’s going on in the U. S.”, Don said. We do n’t say a lot because we’re in a Republican district down there out of fear that what they hear is offensive.
Debbie accepted that strategy and resigned to a political climate where ideas hardly ever change in America.
” We do n’t talk politics at all”, she explained. It does n’t matter what anyone says when I hear the election brought up, to be honest. They all have evidence to back up their claims. No one is open-minded, so there are no exploratory discussions. It comes the same,’ I’m right. You’re wrong.'”
Debbie expressed concern that the upheaval in the states could spread its way north, while Don said he thinks most Canadians would favor a Harris presidency.
” I think it’s important to feel like the U. S. has a government system that is stable and fully democratic”, she added. ” Whatever we see in the U. S. tends to come to Canada eventually”.
When one considers that the future vice president spent five years in Quebec and graduated from a high school north of the border, the Canadians ‘ association with Harris is more understandable. In 1976, Harris ‘ mother relocated from California to Montreal with then-12-year-old Kamala after taking up a teaching position at McGill University.
Additionally, the progressive Canadian government of Justin Trudeau and the California Harris that he oversaw as attorney general and senator have a strong philosophical connection.
In York, Ontario, Susan is an engineer who believes there’s one observation that unifies Canadians observing the American campaign season.
” This election highlights the tremendous discord within the U. S. and the level of dysfunction in government”, Susan said. In any U.S. election, Canadians stand a significant chance of losing because changes in American policies have the potential to have an impact on all of our businesses. We track all that as we’re saturated with more U. S. than Canadian news cycles”.
Susan said that the typical Canadian voter was more in tune with the Democratic Party’s worldview. She stated that because the two countries ‘ industries are so closely integrated, she believes her fellow citizens want economic harmony to be achieved through a functioning NAFTA agreement.
” Canadians are much more at ease negotiating with Democrats through our shared values,” Susan continued. There is also a fundamental sense of justice in Canada, which was established on the principles of order and peace, which is strikingly different from the” Live Free or Die” sentiment in the American South.
Dan was born in Alberta’s more rugged regions as a writer. He acknowledged that his ancestral home is more to the right than Ontario or British Columbia, and he also cited his province as “more Trump territory if anything else like exists in Canada.”
He explained that many Canadians notice a marked decline in the Republican Party’s intentions and integrity, regardless of whether they lean left or right.
” I feel like]the Republican Party ] lost its way under Trump”, Dan lamented. ” Studying American history, it’s difficult to see the party of Abraham Lincoln, Eisenhower, Reagan, and even Martin Luther King Jr. is now run by Trump — , or by what I saw Trump described as: ‘ a con man and a TV reality show host from Queens who ca n’t make bail.'”
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Dan said he believes Trump will abandon the Republican Party if Harris should win the day, while the party will be pleased to see him leave.
” The original Republican values get lost, I think, because all Trump cares about is Trump”, he added.
John Lewinski,  , MFA, is a writer based in Milwaukee.
