Should Canada Be Preparing for a Destabilized USA?

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I wonder if the Canadian Conservative leadership all of sudden becomes a more coveted prize.

I mean, Canada is always a laggard when it comes to global political trends like the ones that are currently at play in the UK and US, so maybe the right wing "pot of gold" is not this current leadership campaign but the next one.

In any event, I am sure Justin Trudeau is happy that we're generally an election or two behind when it comes to such things.

Either way, the challenge for the CPC leadership is that rural and urban are so far apart. I think, if it was decided in the seats they hold now, Kellie Leitch would win easily (unless someone outdid her on the policy). But the big urban areas they don't have would repel it (they'd be lucky to win any seats in the Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver regions especially)...and unlike in the US, there is no extra benefit to winning ridings with 70, 80% of the vote compared to with 50%.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

In some cases, probably, but he will also be facing the constraints imposed by some of his more contentious policies, including "the Wall", renegotiation of free trade agreements, obliging NATO partners to spend more (Canada, this means you!), etc. He will also certainly appoint conservative Supreme Court justices, which will have long term implications. Obamacare is toast in its current form.

The most obvious impacts I've seen referenced in all the articles I'm reading today are:

- The carbon tax is dead. If we proceed without the Americans, we'll simply be giving them a competitive advantage that will be obvious and unpopular.
- Pipelines are back on the table.
- Countries that rely on American military protection from Russia are now on their own, and if NATO steps in to fill that void, we'll have to contribute.
- Protectionism and Buy America will likely become official policy, trade agreements be damned.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It's only been a tiny trickle, but I am pretty sure Canada has accepted refugees from the US in the fairly recent past. (I am not just talking about draft dodgers in the 60s.)

US citizens who have been accepted as refugees from the States? I would be astonished.

[WhipperSnapper]

Women are always welcome

[mistercorporate]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Women are always welcome

[eemy]

I'm trying hard not to predict what Trump will do in this next term. There are so many variables and Trump has been extremely unpredictable at best that the exercise just seems pointless.

It will be interesting to see what his relationship with Congress looks like. His campaign was pretty much Republican in name only by the end and I'm not sure how much loyalty to the party he has, especially after he was pretty much completely abandoned by the party leadership. This is probably the closest the US is ever going to get to having an independent as president.

[mistercorporate]

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

US citizens who have been accepted as refugees from the States? I would be astonished.

Or was it political asylum? (Is it the same thing?)

I can't find it right now off hand, but I am not joking.

[mistercorporate]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I don't say stuff like this often on here but... you're an idiot.

Agreed, hongkongmountainland hasn't learned his lesson from the last time he was behaving like a raving idiot. Mods must be sleeping or still hung over from watching the election coverage last night lol..

[esquire]

Should Canada come up with a new 4 year "honorary permanent resident" category for the hordes of disaffected voters who threaten to leave after every presidential election? Charge $99 US a pop for them and it could be a tidy little earner... of course, it would come with no actual privileges but that's because no one is actually going to move out of the US because they're upset over the turnout of the election.

This has really become a tired US election cliché, but I guess Canadians aren't helping... I saw tons of reposts of the supposed CIC website crash on my wife's facebook feed last night, followed by a range of gleeful comments. It makes us feel really good, doesn't it?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

Should Canada come up with a new 4 year "honorary permanent resident" category for the hordes of disaffected voters who threaten to leave after every presidential election? Charge $99 US a pop for them and it could be a tidy little earner... of course, it would come with no actual privileges but that's because no one is actually going to move out of the US because they're upset over the turnout of the election.

This has really become a tired US election cliché, but I guess Canadians aren't helping... I saw tons of reposts of the supposed CIC website crash on my wife's facebook feed last night, followed by a range of gleeful comments. It makes us feel really good, doesn't it?

I noticed this too. Hopefully it doesn't make Canada too cocky and insufferable. There was an obvious drift in that direction during the W Bush years.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I noticed this too. Hopefully it doesn't make Canada too cocky and insufferable. There was an obvious drift in that direction during the W Bush years.

I didn't see any Ugly Canadians in my news feed at all, surprisingly. Just a lot of shock and horror, a lot of acquaintances working away in the United States half joking about coming back. And a lot of really interesting, calm conversations about how the Democrats did this to themselves by snuffing Bernie's movement.

There are pockets of people slamming the United States ("This is what America is", "America has lost its credibility to lead the free world", "They're a primitive country, clearly") but no glee or smugness, and a lot of genuine concern it could happen here - especially given that federal Conservative leadership candidate's praising of the result.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by jeremy_haak

It will be interesting to see what his relationship with Congress looks like. His campaign was pretty much Republican in name only by the end and I'm not sure how much loyalty to the party he has, especially after he was pretty much completely abandoned by the party leadership. This is probably the closest the US is ever going to get to having an independent as president.

People keep talking about how smooth the implementation of the shared world-ending Trump/Republican agenda will be because the senate and house are both Republican-controlled but it isn't clear at all what Trump intends to do or if that is aligned with Republicans in general. Just as people say they don't expect Trump to suddenly be calm and reasonable in office I don't expect him to suddenly toe the party line.

I don't think US politics are going very well but I wish Americans and Canadians would both be less hysterical about these elections. I've already had people get upset at me in person because I didn't seem worried enough about Donald Trump. I'm not American, I can't vote in American elections, and doubt I know anybody who voted for Trump or and cared about what I posted on Facebook or whatever. I might as well get angry at the changing seasons. Canadians who get worked up about the US elections need to get a grip. It's often not even clear which candidate would be better for Canada, regardless of what domestic policies they claim to support.

[geotag277]

Originally Posted by someone123

]I've already had people get upset at me in person because I didn't seem worried about about Donald Trump.

That's just a small taste of how people who were OK with Trump have been treated since the beginning.

Amazingly I find Canadians doubly hostile to this idea that Trump is not literally Hitler. I think Canadians should probably cool it with the pompous assumption that they know everything there is to know about the socio-economic climate in America and why people vote the way they do.

It's a bit embarrassing.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Or was it political asylum? (Is it the same thing?)

I can't find it right now off hand, but I am not joking.

Interesting trivia. The concept of "political asylum" does not exist in Canada. The Latin Americans, among others, are quite big on it. That's why they pitch up at our missions abroad from time to time and our diplomats are obliged to persuade them to leave.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I didn't see any Ugly Canadians in my news feed at all, surprisingly. Just a lot of shock and horror, a lot of acquaintances working away in the United States half joking about coming back. And a lot of really interesting, calm conversations about how the Democrats did this to themselves by snuffing Bernie's movement.

There are pockets of people slamming the United States ("This is what America is", "America has lost its credibility to lead the free world", "They're a primitive country, clearly") but no glee or smugness, and a lot of genuine concern it could happen here - especially given that federal Conservative leadership candidate's praising of the result.

That's interesting.

In my case the level of overall discussion was disappointingly low, with some exceptions.

Lots of snide comments about the U.S. education system. That's one thing that stands out.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by esquire

Should Canada come up with a new 4 year "honorary permanent resident" category for the hordes of disaffected voters who threaten to leave after every presidential election? Charge $99 US a pop for them and it could be a tidy little earner... of course, it would come with no actual privileges but that's because no one is actually going to move out of the US because they're upset over the turnout of the election.

This has really become a tired US election cliché, but I guess Canadians aren't helping... I saw tons of reposts of the supposed CIC website crash on my wife's facebook feed last night, followed by a range of gleeful comments. It makes us feel really good, doesn't it?

Happiness at the distress of others is not just a German concept.....

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Interesting trivia. The concept of "political asylum" does not exist in Canada. The Latin Americans, among others, are quite big on it. That's why they pitch up at our missions abroad from time to time and our diplomats are obliged to persuade them to leave.

Then it's refugees. I'll have to dig deeper but I am sure I have seen this.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by geotag277

Amazingly I find Canadians doubly hostile to this idea that Trump is not literally Hitler.

I just count myself among the lucky ones because I managed to survive the election of George W. Bush, who some may remember was also considered Hitler-like and was going to bring about the end of the world.

(Admittedly, he did kind of destroy at least one country, but the US has a fairly regular track record of destroying a country every few years regardless of who is president.)

[someone123]

Also, did anybody notice how the CBC had a mixed bag of election-day commentators?

One guy kept rambling and saying things like "white men need to smarten up". At another point a lady was ranting hysterically about how Trump was "Jim Crow 2.0" and a widespread public backlash against Obama (who 51% of American voters picked in 2012). Other calmer commentators were having trouble getting a word in edgewise.

Were the good commentators all busy providing coverage for the American stations or something? And from now on when people don't vote the way we want are we always going to accuse them of being racist, sexist, etc. rather than talking about actual policies?