A Trump win is considered Canada’s loss

When Donald J Trump was about to be confirmed as a Republican party nominee in 2016 US elections, Google search engine buzzed with one question “how to immigrate to Canada?”

And the maximum hit came from the US as a large number of Americans believed that they cannot live in the US under Trump presidency.

No US election has probably been more talked about in Canada than this one, and the reason is – Donald Trump.

Like most Americans, the Canadians are eagerly waiting for the results of the elections being held on Tuesday.

Some Canadian commentators view a ‘Trump win as Canada’s loss.’

It is the economic factor that is bigger than any other issue, as the US is the biggest export destination for Canada. It accounts for over 75 percent of Canadian goods and products.

Canada also shares around 4,000 miles of territorial boundary (excluding Alaska) with the United States.

“We would view a Trump win as very bad for Canada’s economy,” said Capital Economics in a report in June, quoted by a Toronto newspaper.

“If he doesn’t push the US economy into recession by slashing public spending, Canada’s exports might end up as collateral damage in his push to increase protectionism,” it added.

If elected, Trump would like to terminate some free-trade deals as part of his plan to bring jobs back to America.

As president, he would have the leeway to further his protectionist agenda, as under NAFTA agreement, any country can withdraw with six months’ notice.

Earlier, Trump described the North American free-trade agreement as a “disaster” and said he would renegotiate or even “break" it. He has reiterated those comments on the campaign trail.

“I am going to bring our jobs back to Ohio and Pennsylvania and New York and Michigan and all of America and I am not going to let companies move to other countries, firing their employees along the way, without consequences,” he was quoted as saying by the Globe and the Mail newspaper in July’s acceptance speech.

However, some economists and commentators believe that the protectionists talk in US election is very common but when it comes to governing, the scenario could be completely different.

Canada had once managed the worst global downturn but its economy is now faltering. The oil industry is experiencing a significant slump while unemployment rate has gone up in many provinces.

Another issue that worries most Canadians is Trump’s immigration policy. Canada is a country of immigrants, but in the last several years, hate crimes against Muslims in Canada have more than doubled even while overall hate crimes have dropped, the Toronto Metro reported.

Trump’s strong anti-immigrant policy might have some effect across the border in the land of immigrants.