The border communities of St. Stephen, N.B. and Calais, Maine don’t just share a border, they often share family members, friends, and services like fire protection.
Therefore it should come as no surprise that American politics is something which is watched very closely in St. Stephen — especially Tuesday’s nail biter election.
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“Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s election, the people here are still the same people,” said St. Stephen Mayor Allan MacEachern.
“We’ll keep moving forward.”
Many people may admit they woke up stunned Wednesday morning to learn Republican Donald Trump had won the Whitehouse, but not so much in rural Maine.
Trump enjoyed a lot of support in the Calais region, although ultimately the state went Democrat.
Leaders on both sides of the border don’t feel a Trump administration will hamper the good will and cooperation that has existed between the neighbouring towns for years.
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“The collaboration with St. Stephen is so important and there’s so many people, they’re either married to a Canadian, they’re married to an American,” said outgoing Calais Mayor, Marianne Moore. “They live here, they live in St Stephen. We think of it as a circle and we’re just one big family.”
St. Stephen Mayor McEachern agrees.
“We work together. We share our community. It’s all one community. You know we’re just two halves of a whole.”
Still the divisive campaign has some wondering what might result in the end.
“I think that’s a real fear for some people.”
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