"Trump clearly is very much an isolationist when it comes to trade, which obviously is the most important issue we have with the U.S," said Donald Abelson, a political science professor at Western University and director of The Canada-U.S. Institute.
"If you do buy into the bravado and do buy into the policy pronouncements, it's all going to be about 'America first' and everyone else second and what kind of ripple effect does that have on us."
A Trump presidency "would certainly have a huge impact on the U.S. so there's no question it would affect the bilateral relationship as well," Abelson said.
"All the issues that we've flagged over the last number of years ... will be exacerbated should Donald Trump somehow make his way to 1600 Pennsylvania …show more content…
He has said he would ban Muslims coming into the U.S. and send back Syrian refugees. "I suspect someone like Trump would easily buy into the immediate post 9/11 rhetoric that Canada was somehow at fault for allowing some of the hijackers to cross our borders into the U.S., which was obviously incorrect," Abelson said.
Still, other observers, such as political scientist Brian Bow, the director of the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies at Dalhousie University, says much of Trump's talk on issues that could affect Canadians is just that — talk. And in that respect, he may not be that much different than past candidates.
On NAFTA, for example, both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton said during the 2008 campaign that they would renegotiate the deal, and it never happened.
"It doesn't mean much at all. It's a way of signalling to voters 'I can do better in terms of making everybody happy, but it's also a way of saying I'm not bound to past commitments. I will do more for you than my predecessors did," Bow
"If you do buy into the bravado and do buy into the policy pronouncements, it's all going to be about 'America first' and everyone else second and what kind of ripple effect does that have on us."
A Trump presidency "would certainly have a huge impact on the U.S. so there's no question it would affect the bilateral relationship as well," Abelson said.
"All the issues that we've flagged over the last number of years ... will be exacerbated should Donald Trump somehow make his way to 1600 Pennsylvania …show more content…
He has said he would ban Muslims coming into the U.S. and send back Syrian refugees. "I suspect someone like Trump would easily buy into the immediate post 9/11 rhetoric that Canada was somehow at fault for allowing some of the hijackers to cross our borders into the U.S., which was obviously incorrect," Abelson said.
Still, other observers, such as political scientist Brian Bow, the director of the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies at Dalhousie University, says much of Trump's talk on issues that could affect Canadians is just that — talk. And in that respect, he may not be that much different than past candidates.
On NAFTA, for example, both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton said during the 2008 campaign that they would renegotiate the deal, and it never happened.
"It doesn't mean much at all. It's a way of signalling to voters 'I can do better in terms of making everybody happy, but it's also a way of saying I'm not bound to past commitments. I will do more for you than my predecessors did," Bow