Country ready to help citizens in U.S. in case of post-election disruption.
Fears are high U.S. will suffer a breakdown of its systems if no clear winner
OTTAWA — Canada’s diplomats will be ready to help Canadians living south of the border if there’s trouble in the United States after election day, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says.
“It is absolutely a responsibility of our government to be there for Canadians outside our country, and we will be there for them, too,” Freeland said Tuesday.
She said it’s up to Americans to decide who will lead them, and up to Canada to deal with whoever American voters select.
“We absolutely respect the choice the American people are making (Tuesday) and we will be ready to work effectively with whoever they choose as their government.”
But some observers of the U.S. presidential election were expecting that late-counted votes would mean the outcome would still be uncertain by the end of Tuesday night, with final tallies taking days or even weeks in some states.
In the polarized American political environment, which saw clashes between demonstrators and police in many cities earlier this year, that could potentially lead to civil unrest.
“Our federal government is absolutely ready. We have thoughtfully prepared for all eventualities and I am really confident that we have a plan no matter what happens,” Freeland said.
Anew poll from Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies that found a clear majority of Canadians surveyed worry that the United States will suffer a breakdown of its system marked by “social chaos” if no clear winner emerges.
That fear is being driven by the assumption that U.S. President Donald Trump won’t accept defeat if he is in fact defeated, or that he may prematurely declare victory on election night before all votes, including mail-in ballots, can be legally counted.
Canadians are not oblivious to a chaotic final weekend of campaigning that saw Republican supporters block highways, including surrounding a Joe Biden campaign bus on a Texas interstate, as gun sales soared, businesses boarded up in cities across the country, and Republican lawyers stood ready to contest the results.
“It’s a bit like watching your neighbour’s roof catch fire,” said Perrin Beatty, the president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “You’re both fascinated and horrified.”
The Leger poll found that three-quarters of those surveyed in Canada are worried about the U.S. election, and 68 per cent worry that there will be a “complete breakdown of the political system in the U.S. leading to a period of social chaos.” “Who would have ever thought we would ever ask the question? But that’s where we are,” said pollster Christian Bourque.
Four out of five respondents said they were concerned that increased racial tension would lead to protests and violence.
The survey of 1,516 Canadians selected from an online panel was conducted from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1.
Polls conducted this way do not come with a margin of error, since they are not considered random.