The final day of the cruise ship season in Saint John brought roughly 3,600 people to the city’s uptown for a day of shopping and dining. Many of the tourists strolling through on Wednesday are from the United States, and they have mixed feelings after seeing the results from midterm elections back home where both the House of Representatives and Senate flipped from Republican to Democrat. Steve Sanford spent 26 years with the United States Marine Corps, and had a simple reaction when asked his thoughts on the outcome. “I thought the results sucked,” he tells CTV Atlantic. Others shared similar feelings. “Disappointing,” New Jersey resident Kevin Scully told CTV when asked his thoughts on the results. I didn’t think that it would be such a bloodbath. The one thing great about the United States is that they have a tendency to rectify who they voted in two years later, and we’ll see what happens.” “I think a lot of people in the Conservative Party, such as myself, are a bit mystified that it went as far left as it did,” says Chris Baker from Texas. “As a Trump supporter, I personally would like to see him get back to what he was promising over the campaign trail. Let’s get these diesel and gas prices down.” But not every American touring the port city for the day was disappointed by the blue wave, which saw long-time Republican states like Maine and Texas flip from red to blue. Patrick Young says he feels very good about the results and wasn’t surprised by the outcome. “When you look at the corruption and the government, when you look at gas prices being extremely high, and when you look at tariffs in a very unpopular war, it all added up to being quite - for lack of a better term - a bloodbath,” he says. “I’m hoping over the next two years both sides can come together, work together closely and if not I think we’ll see more of it two years from now on with a total repudiation of the Trump administration.” While the results from the midterms will have the greatest impact on Americans, the outcome will have global ripple effects, including in Canada. Canada has been subjected to tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump since he took office for his second term. Before Tuesday night, both the Senate and House were Republican making it easy for the president to make changes when it came to his tariff policies. New Brunswick PC MLA Glen Savoie says Americans made their voice heard with last night’s election results and hopes the president will accept the results with dignity. Savoie also focused on New Brunswick leadership. “We have a premier who hasn’t done anything to improve the situation between New Brunswick and Maine,” says Savoie. “Point to me anything concrete that she’s done that has helped our situation. I encouraged her to make part of the New England governors, all of the different functions and groups that that New Brunswick is part of, she didn’t show up for some of them. “So tell me, does it really matter who’s on the other side of the of the border? No, it really matters who’s on this side of the border and what she hasn’t done to help New Brunswickers as one of the most trade exposed provinces in Canada.” CTV Atlantic made numerous attempts to speak with New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt to get her thoughts on the midterm reaction but were denied an interview. Instead the Premier’s office provided an emailed statement. “Our focus continues to be fighting for the best possible trade deal and delivering good paying jobs for New Brunswickers,” says the premier in the statement. “We are looking forward to building relationships with the newly elected Governors, Senators and Congresspeople and expect that their leadership will result in improved trade conditions for N.B. entrepreneurs and workers.” ‘It was a blue tsunami’ St. Thomas University political scientist Jamie Gillies was up late Tuesday night tracking the results from the vote in the United States. “It was a blue tsunami,” says Gillies on the results. “I don’t even think the Democrats quite understood how big that that wave was going to be but by the end of the night, and still into the morning hours where they’re counting in places like Alaska, still it looks like the Democrats have exceeded their expectations.” One of the more shocking wins from the midterms was Maine Democrat Troy Jackson defeating longtime Republican incumbent Susan Collins. That race had been watched closely by New Brunswickers and Quebec residents given the billions of products imported by the state from the provinces such as electricity, softwood lumber, and seafood. Gillies believes even Jackson’s supporters would have been surprised by the election outcome. He says down the eastern seaboard there isn’t a Republican representative in either the House or Senate until Staten Island. He says the Democrats sweep of the midterms will make it more difficult from the president to move forward with any additional tariffs or other legislative changes. That said, Gillies doesn’t expect Donald Trump to change his ways, but the results could change his perception heading into the last two years of his term. “He also has to think about his legacy, and right now there is a great deal of animus towards him and his policies, even among his own supporters,” Gillies says. “How do you rebuild that enough to leave office with a positive legacy and a positive image? The vast majority of Americans do not think he’s doing a good job as president. “The challenge for the White House is do you want to write that ship or do you want to go down with this sort of MAGA last stand.” As for what the results mean for Canada and the ongoing trade war between the two countries, Gillies says there is an incentive for the United States to strike a deal with Canada given how many tariff-impacted states flipped seats. He says eyes will be on Prime Minister Mark Carney and New Brunswick MP Dominic LeBlanc, who is leading the trade negotiations for Canada, to try and “change the narrative” surrounding tariffs with the Trump administration. Gillies says there will likely be more clarity on a possible trade deal in the weeks head. “We also have a lame duck session in Congress where some things can also happen,” Gillies says. “Maybe there’s an opportunity with the existing Republicans who are out of office in January where there’s some wiggle room here to maybe get something larger in terms of deals and negotiations with the United States.” For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
