Canada-U.S. friendship will remain regardless of midterm outcomes: Trudeau

The relationship between Canada and the United States will remain relatively unchanged regardless of the outcome of the U.S. midterm elections, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

U.S. citizens are heading to the polls on Tuesday for the country’s midterm elections, which U.S. President Joe Biden has billed as a battle for democracy itself.

Still, no matter what the outcome, Trudeau said Canada will “continue to work with the U.S. government, with U.S. Congress on things that matter to Canadians.”

“We have worked through very different configurations of administrations in the past,” Trudeau said, speaking to reporters in New Brunswick on Tuesday.

“The friendship and the solidity of the relationship between Canada and the United States will continue regardless of whatever happens in the midterms.”

Speaking last Wednesday, Biden warned American voters that in a typical year, the country “is not often faced with the question of whether the vote we cast will preserve democracy or put it at risk.”

“But we are this year,” he said.

One serious area of concern for Biden and many political onlookers is the number of candidates running for office who believe in conspiracy theories — ranging from the debunked world of QAnon to former U.S. president Donald Trump’s false assertion that the last presidential election was stolen, according to political commentator David Frum.

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Speaking during an interview with The West Block‘s Mercedes Stephenson on Sunday, Frum said the  chances of the Republicans taking the House this week are “near-certain.”

“It’s not impossible the Democrats hold onto the Senate, but it’s more probable that the Republicans take both,” he said.

The problem, said Frum — a lifelong Republican but vocal Trump opponent — is that “the party that is poised to make these gains is one that is not committed to the democratic system anymore, as much as it ought to be.”

No matter the outcome, however, Trudeau said he plans to work with Canada’s neighbour to the south on “creating jobs,” driving “economic growth” and “benefiting people on both sides of the border.”

Tuesday marks the first time Americans have cast their ballot since November 2020, shortly before a pro-Trump mob stormed Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6.

But with a seemingly tight race, it might be days before the United States — and the world — knows the result of the midterms. Campaign officials and political observers are warning they likely won’t know the final outcome before the end of the week.

— with files from The Canadian Press