Beyond the Ballot: Whether it's Kamala or Trump, US election 'doesn’t bode well for Canada'

Whoever wins the election in the US tonight, it “doesn’t bode well for Canada,” according to Renee Merrifield.

The businesswoman, formerly the BC Liberal/BC United MLA for Kelowna–Mission, said that both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are “very protectionistic.”

“They're both going to focus on the American population … jobs, growth, the American economy,” she said, during a conversation with KelownaNow video host Jim Csek.

“And in order to do that, they're going to get protectionistic towards other countries, and that does not bode well for Canada … Kamala actually voted, as a senator, against the USMCA [trade deal].”

Canada, Merrifield added, “really got hosed” when that deal was negotiated. “I think it could happen again,” she said.

Those concerns aside, Merrifield said she will still be eagerly watching the election south of the border, which she said was “so intense” and “like a great reality show.”

But which way will it go?

That depends entirely upon what voters in the swing states – particularly Pennsylvania – think about the candidates.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by President Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump)

Polls are generally suggesting that Trump has narrow leads in all the states in play except for Michigan and Wisconsin.

If they are accurate, he will be celebrating an emphatic win.

But Merrifield also pointed out that the historian Allan Lichtman, who is considered something of an election-predicting mastermind, thinks Harris will win. Meanwhile the pollster Ann Selzer, another hallowed figure in the US prognostication scene, thinks Harris will win Iowa, implying a landslide for the Democrat.

Speaking to Csek, Merrifield pointed out that Harris has been more concerned with “ideology,” while Trump has focused on the “pocketbook.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kamala Harris (@kamalaharris)

The at-times gloomy debate about the American economy has been “shocking” to her, however, since the US has been doing a lot better than Canada in recent years.

“And yet that is really resonating with the American people,” she said.

In a comprehensive discussion with Csek, Merrifield also discussed:

• Steven Guilbeault’s recent announcement of a cap on oil and gas emissions, which she branded a “huge loss for Canadians” and “Canadian prosperity”

• The US-Mexico border and the US-Canada border

• Canadian asylum policy during a hypothetical Trump presidency featuring mass deportation: “Canada being really nice is not going to bode well”

• The BC election: “What's going to happen is the Greens are going to be back in power, back in control, the tail wagging the dog.”