The fate of the U.S. presidency is in the hands of the American people but the end result could have a dramatic impact on our country.
If the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, wins the White House analysts say the markets will remain stable and she will have similar views on energy, environment and climate change issues as our federal liberal government.
“I think in the case of a Clinton presidency there is a track record for us to evaluate what that means for Canadian businesses and Canadian economy,” says Justin Smith the Calgary Chamber of Commerce’s policy director. “I think it’s wide open and very unpredictable in a Trump presidency.”
The Republican nominee, Donald Trump, has been very open about putting America first and renegotiating international trade deals something that could prove difficult for Canadian businesses.
However, Trump has repeatedly stated his support for the oil industry and that he’d like to approve the Keystone XL pipeline.
“I don’t know if he has the political strategies in place to actually accomplish that,” says Mount Royal University political scientist Lori Williams. “There were a lot of protest and his style is so draconian and bombastic that I’m not sure he’d get the support to put it through.”
“It’s an important issue to take to the next U.S. President but it doesn’t stand a good chance under one or the other as president,” says Smith.
The U.S. is Canada’s largest trading partner and Canadian businesses do depend on that open border.
“If Trump wins all bets are off,” says Dan McFayden with the University of Calgary School on Public Policy. “We enter a period of extreme uncertainty and volatility as people try and understand what he really stands for because I don’t think that’s clear.”
“Canada is always better under a democratic American government than a Republican one that’s just a fact over years and years of study,” says Williams.
There are also concerns about what will happen south of the border if the Democrats win the White House but lose the House and the Senate.
Many analysts expect that vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court will remain for quite a while and the Americans will experience gridlock like they have under the Obama administration.
“It’s a very delicate time in American right now in terms of the issues that they have to deal with and that they come together as a people after this is I think the real issue tha America is going to have to stand back and take a look at,” says McFayden.
The race for the White House is expected to be very tight.
