|
U.S. election process can impact Canada |
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, 09 January 2008 |
While Canada and the United States have vastly different political systems in place to elect their leaders, both offer the opportunity for grassroots support to have an impact on the eventual outcome.
The election process in the States is receiving a lot of media coverage north of the border.
News programs have reporters in place to follow the ins and outs of the day-to-day campaign among Democrats and Republicans, each seeking to nominate a candidate to represent their respective parties in this year's election for a new president.
For the most part, the average Canadian is probably more concerned about their favourite television programs going into reruns than they are about who will get the nomination for the two opposing parties and go head to head in the race for the White House.
After all, the majority of Canadians do not care about their own political process on this side of the border, so why should they care about what is happening in the United States?
They should care. The outcome of this year's presidential race could have a profound impact on the future direction of trade and commerce between our two countries.
Anyone who does not realize how closely linked our two countries are need only look at the ups and downs of the Canadian loonie to understand how quickly policy changes in the U.S. could impact north of the border.
Depending on who gets the seat in the White House, Canadians could be looking at a reversal of the Free Trade Agreement, a change in how the U.S. military addresses peace in the Middle East and how security, and therefore access at the border, between the two countries is handled. Canada, and the border with the United States, has been a topic of discussion among those seeking their party's nomination.
There are those who would favour tighter security for Canadians seeking to travel into the U.S. While the U.S. government has now delayed the need for a passport for those driving across the border until the July of 2009, there is nothing to say that will not change once the election is over.
There are candidates who favour reworking free trade with Canada. In fact, there are more than two who feel it should be scrapped all together. At the very least, a new president in the White House should boost confidence in the U.S. dollar, which could directly impact our loonie.
Canadians can not do much to impact the elections but they need to be aware of how the vote in the U.S. could impact Canada. Even a change in foreign policy, as dictated by the White House, could impact Canadian troops serving peacekeeping duties around the globe.
A cautious, watch-and-wait attitude would not be out of line for Canadians to adopt as the election process moves forward. |
