Canada has a lot to be concerned about as the US presidential election draws to a close, but a former diplomat between the two countries says he’s particularly concerned about the “chaos” after the vote — including the potential for “fairly high” violence.
David MacNaughton, who served as Canada’s ambassador to the United States from 2016 to 2019, says he’s confident Canada can handle a future Donald Trump or Kamala Harris administration despite the challenges each may pose.
But with polls showing a very close race, McNaughton says he hopes the outcome will be clear enough to avoid a disputed result like the 2000 US election result, which reached the US Supreme Court.
“You can only imagine the turmoil that will continue,” he told Mercedes-Stevenson in an interview broadcast on Sunday. Western bloc.
“So I hope it’s clear one way or the other. I think we can handle either outcome, but chaos won’t be good for anyone.”
MacNaughton said that regardless of who wins, he believes the potential for political violence following the outcome — which could take days to determine — is “fairly high.”
He said that the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by a crowd of Trump supporters protesting his loss in the election “really shocked” him and stood in stark contrast to the period leading up to Trump’s inauguration in 2016.
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“The mood is so divided and so tense on both sides that I’m really concerned about the potential for violence,” he said. “It won’t necessarily be in Washington. It might be elsewhere in the country.”
Poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research It shows that Americans are also concerned about what might come after Election Day, especially if the winner isn’t immediately clear.
About four in 10 registered voters said they were “very” or “extremely” concerned about violent attempts to overturn the results after the November election. A similar percentage expressed concern about legal efforts to do so. About a third of voters said they were “extremely” or “very” concerned about attempts by local or state election officials to prevent final results from being finalized.
MacNaughton said any post-election unrest in the United States would create “real problems” for Canada, including on cross-border trade and national security.
But if Trump wins, and follows through on his promise to mass deport at least 10 million immigrants from across the United States, Canada will likely face a wave of frightened migrants.
“We have a very long, unprotected border, and that is worrying,” MacNaughton said.
The ambassador said the key difference between a Trump or Harris presidency will be how quickly Canada has to be prepared to negotiate things like the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). Both candidates have said they want to reopen the trade agreement when it is reviewed in 2026.
While Canada may have more time to engage with the Harris administration “on a more traditional basis” before that review, the tone will immediately be more confrontational and “transactional” under Trump, MacNaughton said.
“I think with Trump, we have to be ready to talk about how we are going to be good partners and to help maintain peace, security and prosperity,” he said.
Commitments to address shared interests such as defense and fentanyl trafficking could help Canada avoid the sweeping tariffs on all foreign imports into the United States that Trump has promised to impose.
He added: “I realize that everyone is concerned about, ‘Will he impose tariffs? Will he do this, will he do that?'” “But we have a lot of strengths that we can bring to the negotiating table. We just have to be prepared to do that, and not always just talk about trade.”
MacNaughton said Canada’s decision to follow the United States in imposing steep tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and components “delighted” Democrats and Republicans in Washington, and demonstrated that Canada is willing to work collaboratively with the United States on shared priorities.
&Copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
