By Cheryl Jahn

US election results have impacts on Canada

Nov 6, 2024 | 4:11 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The ripple could be felt across the globe as there was a clear victor in the US presidential election early on. And many north of the 49th are wondering: What now?

Chris Beach, CNC Political Science Instructor, says one of the first conversations between Canada’s Prime Minister and President Trump will likely be around trade relations. But there are other hot issues that may impact Canada—namely Trump’s plans for illegal immigrants in the US.

“There are a lot of illegal immigrants living in America. They’ve been there for a long time. They’re part of the economy. They could wake up with authorities at their door and having to leave the country in very short order.”

But front and centre during the US election was the economy. Trade relations over the years between Canada and the US, while strong, have been strained. And while the US may wish to access Canada’s abundance of resources, there are other less desirable elements.

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“When it gets to capital flows, when it gets to some of the finished goods, we are in some cases directly competing with the US. And, in other cases, fitting into supply chains will do a lot better than the people who have domestic US interests, who will view us as competitors and have a new opportunity to trip us up,” says Charles Scott with UNBC’s School of Business.

Another long-standing question, – one that Trump has brought up during his past term – is Canada’s financial commitment to NATO. It has committed two per cent of the GDP to defence spending, but it hasn’t hit that mark in years.

“Will this prompt Canada to increase its military spending up to that 2 per cent? Trudeau has said that Canada’s going to do it in the next ten years. Maybe this will make Canada get on a quicker path towards that end,” says Beach.

But, he adds Trump has a reputation for being unpredictable and any threats he may have made during the campaign in the past may be just that, idle threats.