With just a few days left before president-elect Donald Trump takes office, the nervousness and uncertainty in Quebec is palpable, according to political commentator Anne Lagacé Dowson.
“Everybody, I think, is nervous,” she said on Global News Morning Tuesday.
“I think there’s probably crisis management teams meeting on both the federal and provincial levels to figure out how to navigate the early stages of the Trump administration.”
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Following the political upset of Hillary Clinton‘s loss on Nov. 8, Quebec premier Philippe Couillard expressed his concern.
“I think I speak for the majority of Quebecers when I say that the type of politics that we saw in the campaign is not the type of politics that we want to have in Quebec,” he said.
His tone, however, became more conciliatory after Trump’s acceptance speech.
“The first speech of the president-elect was much more positive in tone,” Couillard said.
“Let’s hope we go that direction now. Whatever happens, both countries have to work together.”
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Yet, exactly how the U.S. plans to work with its neighbours to the north has many in the province concerned.
“I think people are worried because 70 per cent of Quebec’s exports go to the United States,” Lagacé Dowson said, adding it’s Trump’s protectionist stance that is causing concern.
“With a guy like Trump, who said ‘I want to renegotiate free trade,’ people are thinking maybe our lumber sales are going to drop,” she said.
“That’s 60,000 jobs in the forestry industry in Quebec.”
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While Couillard is advocating a cooperative approach, Parti Québécois (PQ) leader Jean-François Lisée is suggesting fighting fire with fire, according to Lagacé Dowson.
“We have Jean-François Lisée tackling the Liberals and saying ‘what we need to do is become economic nationalists ourselves,'” she said.
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According to Lagacé Dowson, it’s part of a shift happening on the world stage.
“There’s a whole wave of populism that’s been unleashed by the Trump election and we’re seeing it in Europe as well with the Brexit,” she said.
“The Brits are going to take a hard line and exit from the European Union.”
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The recent changes in the developed world are seeing old alliances fall and new relationships created; Lagacé Dowson suggests Quebec’s best option is to stand its ground.
“With a guy like that [Trump], who has a tendency to be a bully, I think the evidence shows that sucking up doesn’t work,” she said.
“It will be interesting to see. I think they don’t have to bang their fist on the table, but they’ll probably need to hold their own. It’s going to be a challenge because they are so powerful and the market is so big.”
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