Many bleary-eyed political watchers in London went to bed late Tuesday — or early Wednesday — not knowing whether Donald Trump will get a second term in the White House with too many votes in key swing states to be counted to declare a winner.
U.S. elections are always closely watched in Canada but Trump’s turbulent first term combined with the COVID-19 pandemic amped up local interest in this race.
However this morning., the results were not decisive in enough to name a winner in the presidential race, though some Democratic party supporters weren’t feeling good about their chances with Trump having won Ohio and Florida and holding leads in crucial states including Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Many of the early results could change due to the record number of absentee ballots cast as voters tried to avoid crowded voting centres. Some states may not be able to declare the winner for days, depending on possible recounts and legal challenges.
‘Not looking good’ says Biden supporter
Londoner Joe Roberts ran for Congress in his native Ohio back in 2010. He lost the race but didn’t lose his love and passion for politics. (Andrew Lupton/CBC)
Among the Londoners watching the results closely was Joe Roberts.
He’s the executive director of London’s Jewish Centre, but he’s also a native Ohioan who ran for Congress as a Democrat in what was then the Buckeye State’s Third District back in 2010.
He lost that race to a Republican incumbent but didn’t lose his love of politics. He voted by mail in this election weeks ago.
“I’ve been looking forward to this all year, for four years really,” he told CBC News before results began to come in. “Starting in March, all I could think about was November.”
Early Tuesday evening he believed Democratic Party challenger Joe Biden was heading for a win.
But hours later, after partial results had rolled in, Roberts told CBC News he feared Biden faced a very difficult path to win the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House.
“Looking at the vote total that’s still out and where it’s out in Wisconsin and Michigan, it’s really not looking good for Biden,” said Roberts just after midnight. “You have to flip both Pennsylvania and one of those two states to win and it just doesn’t look likely.”
If political history is any indicator, Trump’s win in Ohio doesn’t bode well for Biden and the Democrats.
Ohio has a good track record of picking winning presidential candidates. Going back to 1944, the state has voted for the losing candidate only once, opting for Nixon over Kennedy back in 1960.
“A Republican presidential candidate, historically, has not won without winning Ohio,” said Roberts.
Trump won Ohio four years ago but the state also has a history of oscillating back and forth between the two parties. In the last 12 elections, Ohio has voted for Republican presidential candidates seven times, Democrats five
London Republican watching Texas
Jess McDougall is Canadian but says she’d be voting for Trump if she lived in the United States. Many of her relatives are Trump supporters. She says the polls are failing to capture the number of voters who support Trump, but aren’t willing to admit to it publicly. (Jess McDougall)
Another London-based U.S. politics watcher, but one on the opposite side of the political spectrum, is Jess McDougall.
A 22-year-old political science student at Western University, McDougall says if she lived in the United States, she’d be voting for Trump, like her family does.
They’re based in the Dallas area and she calls them “hardcore Republicans.” They are religious, gun carrying conservatives who want to see Trump in office for another four years.
McDougall said too many polls that predicted a Biden win failed to capture the voting intentions of so-called “shy” Trump supporters.
She’s predicting a Trump win with an Electoral College count similar to when Trump beat Hillary Clinton in 2016.
“Nothing has changed to sway those Trump voters in my opinion,” McDougall said.
CBC News checked in with McDougall just after 11 p.m. Tuesday. She didn’t want to declare Trump the winner, but said she was happy with what she saw in the early results.
“I’m pretty confident obviously but I don’t want to count my chickens too quickly,” she said. “But the pathways are narrowing for Biden.”
Zoom watching party at Western
McDougall was watching the race with others but not in a crowded pub, restaurant or living room.
The political science club at Western University held a Zoom meeting of politics-watchers to discuss and debate as the results were reported.
Club president Aidan Link organized the event and said more than 150 people joined the chat at once. He programmed a half-dozen student moderators, including McDougall, to take turns leading the discussion as the night unfolded. A few Western political science professors also joined the online discussion throughout the night.
It’s not the same as watching the results and victory speeches among a crowd but it will have to do. This is 2020 after all and politics is often about compromise.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
