Donald Trump‘s victory, described by some today as “shocking” and “stunning” is what Louis St. Laurent II was looking forward to. Mr. St. Laurent is President and co-editor of Le Soleil de la Floride, the largest Florida-based newspaper for Canadian Snowbirds.
“It was a revolt. That’s the reason I voted for Trump”
ListenSnowbirds are the Canadians who spend the winter in the warm sunny climates of the southern United States, Mexico or the Caribbean.
Florida, one of the key states in this American election, is home to an estimated half a million Canadians over some, or all of the winter.
Louis St. Laurent says the majority of Canadians he heard from were supporting Hilary Clinton, although they couldn’t vote.
“Canadians should be made more welcome in this country”
St. Laurent, the grandson of former Canadian Prime Minister, Louis St. Laurent, went to Florida to continue his education at the University of Tampa. He stayed there and served as Chief Assistant State Attorney for the Twentieth Judicial Circuit of Florida. Now a citizen of the U.S. he says he has never witnessed an election campaign like this one.
“It was a revolt. That’s the reason I voted for Trump, because I was tired of the establishment in Washington and Wall Street controlling this country, and that means both parties. And here we had a candidate that wasn’t going to be bought off by the special interests”. says St. Laurent.
“Nothing is going to affect the Canadians” he says. “When it’s 20 below in Quebec City and 80 degrees Fahrenheit in Florida and sunny, you’re still going to come down and visit Florida”. St. Laurent thinks that Canadians should enjoy special status.
“If he selected a cabinet like Justin Trudeau selected… I think that would be a great start”.
“Canadians should be made more welcome in this country. If a Mexican comes in illegally he’s allowed to stay; if a Canadian overstays his stay of six months maximum he’s usually deported put on a flight back to Canada. We should have a special relationship between the States and Canada”. St. Laurent explains. “And I hope that with Trump and Trudeau that we’ll create that relationship”.
When asked about what it will take to heal the deep division in the United States, St. Laurent refers to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s example: “If he selected a cabinet like Justin Trudeau selected, that represented all segments of the population of Canada, if he did the same thing for his cabinet here in the United States, in other words to represent all segments of the population, I think that would be a great start”.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.