Saskatchewan residents brace for potential trade impacts from U.S. election

It’s election day south of the border and even if Saskatoon residents aren’t casting ballots, many are watching the outcome closely and bracing for impact.

The U.S. election will have a significant effect on Saskatchewan, according to a public policy professor at the University of Saskatchewan.

“If Donald Trump becomes the president of the United States again, we're entering into a period of considerable uncertainty and volatility. He’s been talking about tariffs and protectionist efforts,” said Ken Coates, Professor Emeritus at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy.

Another potential threat, if the Democrats and Kamala Harris win, is how Trump supporters will react to the loss. The 2021 attack on the capital in Washington D.C. is still fresh on the minds there. According to Coates, a Harris victory carries its own set of concerns.

“It's actually not all that clear what Kamala Harris’s policies are. Basically, it's a continuation of Joe Biden and what they call Biden-omics. Nobody really knows what that is. It’s very vague, we're going to spend a whole bunch of money on a whole bunch of things and hope things work,” he said.

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Jason Aebig, the head of Saskatoon’s Chamber of Commerce, agrees it’s a consequential election for our city and Saskatchewan as a whole, with both candidates addressing issues in their campaigns that directly affect the provincial economy.

“So in one way, shape or form, when we wake up, tomorrow, the folks who lay awake thinking about this are going to be thinking about trade barriers, impact to our energy sector and domestic agriculture, and what that means for all of us,” Aebig said.

Saskatchewan’s economy relies heavily on exports to international markets, meaning trade policies down south directly affect our economy, according to Chris Dekker, CEO of the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership, or STEP.

According to Chris Dekker, one in three jobs in our province is tied directly to exports. The U.S. is Saskatchewan’s largest trading partner. In 2023 we exported $27 billion to the U.S., that’s half of our total exports.

Our political expert at the U of S adds that the style of politics seen in U.S. elections could have an affect here in five to ten years, because we tend to adopt some American social values.

Brianne Janex says she's tuning in to the U.S. election. (Carla Shynkaruk / CTV News)

“One of the most important, which I think is a really horrible one, has been the use of the weaponization of social media,” Coates said.

That includes the verbal attacks against political opponents on social media.

Some of those residents we spoke to are invested, and will be tuning in to see what happens with our American neighbours.

“I’ll probably tune in actually and I'll find it on a news channel, or I'm sure somewhere online, with updates, with twitter,” Brianne Janex told CTV News.

Scott Carlson feels it’s important to pay attention.

“The leader of the free world is being elected, so it's going to have an effect on everybody.”