Okay, so the United States is blue now. I’ve been a little obsessed post-election, reading people’s opinions about how the Republican Party crumbled. Yes, crumbled. Texas. Iowa. Michigan. Kansas. Ohio. The Carolinas. It’s interesting to me that JD Vance blames the losses on the Iran War. Vance, who has his eye on a 2028 presidential bid, picked the one issue he was publicly reticent about in the beginning. Basically, the cunning politician was trying to say, Hey. Don’t blame me.
It doesn’t fly. The reasons Republicans did so poorly go on and on. Gas prices. The economy. Rule by executive orders. A Republican Congress that abdicated its duties and didn’t push back on the president. Bullying and belittling Canada and Greenland. Changing names of bodies of water. A grandiose ballroom. An arch. Trying to make the Kennedy Center be about Trump. The inexplicable waffling back and forth regarding support for Ukraine. (And an attempt to humiliate its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy (a takedown that Vance fully took part in).) Coziness with Russia. Lack of due process in blowing up boats. Vengeful prosecutions. Hateful comments about Muslims and a juvenile tactic of never saying Abdul El-Sayed’s name correctly. Tariff threats and impositions. Changing the Department of Defense to the Department of War. Allowing ICE members to go about goon work while being masked. (Just creepy and disgusting.) Letting Pete Hegseth tear apart the military. Having an anti-vaxxer be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Et cetera, et cetera.
In a nutshell, it came down to Trump fatigue. And every Republican that stood around, silently riding the Trump train is part of this trainwreck. Yes, that includes JD Vance who gleefully accepted the opportunity to be Trump’s VP.
I’m relieved over the election results but I think the next two years are going to be very bumpy. Vetoes. Gridlock. Too much focus by the Democrats on impeachments and investigations. Yes, there is much that could and perhaps should be investigated, but the American people sent a message that they want to see improvements to livability, particularly regarding the economy and healthcare. If the Democrats aren’t seen as fighting for these issues first and foremost, all the gains during the midterms could be vulnerable again two years from now.
I worry. I don’t want another Republican president for a long while. It will take time to undo so much of the damage done by Trump and his team.
But I’m Canadian. I don’t have a vote. Are there any direct impacts from Tuesday’s election?
Not yet, to be sure.
Lake Ontario is still misnamed on Google Maps. Not in Canada but I checked with my partner who lives in Colorado. It was a petty act but it speaks to the mindset that a president can do anything he wants, willy-nilly. His name-calling in speeches and on social media is one thing; changing place names on maps to agitate other countries is quite another. There is basically zero chance Trump will change course but Google Maps should take note of the midterms and do its own course correction, restoring the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario on all maps in all jurisdictions.
Read the room, Google. Read the news, at least.
Trump has yet to call Canada “the 51st state” since Tuesday, but he’s been preoccupied showing off developments on the White House ballroom.
Tariffs against Canada remain in place.
Because of Trump and his Making America Beautiful Again by Improving Our National Parks executive order, US national parks have become prohibitively expensive, not just for Canadians but for anyone who is not American. The eleven most popular parks now impose a $100 per visit fee for foreigners in addition to the regular entrance fee. Thus, if I want to return to Bryce Canyon, it’ll cost me $135. Same for Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. It’s an ill-conceived decision, presumably part of “America first” thinking and Trump’s proclivity to make a buck wherever he can, all the easier from foreigners’ pockets. It means this tourist will not revisit these parks and will perhaps never see Yosemite.
As much as I would have loved for American-Canadian relations to have changed overnight, I see us at an impasse for the remainder of Trump’s term. This is a man who never takes the blame, never admits he made a mistake, never says sorry. Perhaps if Prime Minister Mark Carney did some ass kissing like other national leaders have done, Trump would suddenly think Canada and the US were buddies again. Stoking the man’s ego is the easiest strategy to improving foreign policy relations—just ask Putin and Netanyahu—but Carney and Canada have too much dignity and integrity to fawn over Trump the way Republicans have for the past decade.
So, despite the radical shift in US politics, it’s still status quo from a Canadian perspective. We will continue to strengthen trade relationships with other countries in an attempt to reduce dependency on our southern neighbour. And we will continue to avoid travel to the US.
Personally, I hate that part. Not too long ago, we all faced travel restrictions due to COVID. The Canadian-US border was closed for tourists. Since early 2024, Canadians have instituted their own voluntary US travel boycott. I venture there to see my partner—it would be self-sabotage to let a US president destroy the strongest long-term relationship I’ve ever had. (We met during the Biden-Trudeau years, only a few months after COVID border restrictions were eased.) I also will be heading to Texas (a blue state!) to see my parents who are no longer travelling by air which means no more trips to Canada. In less than a month, I’ll be flying there to be with family as we celebrate my father’s 90th birthday.
To some Canadians, it may seem I am not doing my part. But I’m doing my best. I miss California where I have friendships that began four decades ago. I miss the chill vibes I get from Venice Beach. I miss my favourite beach just north of Malibu where I went to law school. I’d love to revisit San Francisco which I was finally starting to love just before Trump began antagonizing Canadians. I long to return to the Oregon Coast where I used to go for a mood boost several times a year. I wish to reestablish my weekend getaways to Seattle, the setting for my current work-in-progress novel, the place where Evan and I met and the city filled with so many great memories and opportunities for future joy.
Yoho National Park
But this remains the Trump era, however ugly and sad it plays out. While Russia gets away with invading a sovereign country and killing Ukrainians, the potshots against Canada by Trump and many Republican members of Congress have not been walked back in a meaningful way. For the upcoming year, I expect to continue avoiding buying American products whenever possible. I have my eye on travels to Canadian National Parks (e.g., Yoho, Kootenay, Saguenay Fjord) and to Iceland, Sweden and Slovenia or Portugal.
I wish Americans well and hope Democrats use their legislative powers to affect positive change but, until the tone and treatment toward Canada improves, I will make personal decisions that best reflect my identity as a Canadian.
