Inside a University of Windsor classroom, steps from the Canada-U.S. border, students gathered on Tuesday night to tune in to political changes stateside. A watch party held on campus drew students who have been keeping an eye on the U.S. Midterms, despite the election being outside their home country. “So American politics affect the world. It doesn’t just affect America. Anything that goes on there, we’ll see the negative or positive impacts in Canada,” said Isaac Harris, a second-year student. CTV News spoke with several students from the watch party about why the election drew their interest. Answers often ranged from the potential impact on Canadian trade to the U.S.’s sway on the geopolitical climate. “Of course, Canada’s definitely going to be affected by whatever happens, but this is a global election in the sense that the US is still kind of that dominant superpower in the world,” said Robbie Durling. Located within walking distance of one of the busiest border crossings in North America and one of the most heated Senate races, Nihaal Dhaliwal, a fourth-year political science student, said he’s kept a close eye on Michigan. “Being at the University of Windsor, literally at our doorstep is U.S. politics, so I’m really grateful we have something like this because it affects us every single day,” he said. The watch party was held by the university’s policial science club, Model Parliament, Model Nato, pre-law society and political science society. Ella Horner, the co-vice president of social media and events for Model Parliament at the University of Windsor, told CTV News the goal was to have like-minded people in a setting where they can receive trusted information. “I find that [politics] affects people so much more than we believe it does,” Horner said. “It’s affecting people who travel to school like myself. I’m not originally from Windsor, I travel home for school breaks, and now I’m starting to have to figure things out because gas is so expensive and it is just so much more important now.” Horner, a third-year English Major, said they hoped to encourage more young people to be engaged in varying levels of politics and how it can affect their lives. “We think that everyone, no matter your major, no matter your age, no matter who you are, you should be coming out because politics are important, and even if they’re in a different country, they affect you,” she said. As part of the watch party, students took part in a discussion and Q&A period with political science professors from the university.
