LIVE: What Canadians are saying about the U.S. election

The whole world is watching as the most dramatic American presidential election in recent memory comes to a close on Tuesday.

Yahoo Canada News writers have fanned out from coast to coast to take in the results from Vancouver to Newfoundland.

Keep checking back for updates throughout the night, and watch our Facebook page for live video.

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Amber Nasrulla in Newmarket, Ont.

At 11:30 p.m. with election results trickling in from western states and the electoral map showing Clinton with 197 seats and Trump with 187, Ben Grant a 32-year-old Newmarket cook was enjoying a Coors Banquet at Jack Astor’s. He waxed poetic on the significance — or in his case — the insignificance of the U.S. election.

“It means nothing,” he said matter-of-factly. “The election is just a curtain to hide us from the reality of what is really happening.”

Which is what?

“That this is all a big show and government moves in circles and can never solve any problems or get any work done,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who gets elected. It won’t make any difference to Canada.”

Two seats down the bar, Travis, a self-employed Richmond Hill resident who stopped by to watch the Leafs game, expressed his disappointment: “One presidential candidate is probably a criminal and the other bankrupted who knows how many businesses. Watching this I don’t feel so bad about Rob Ford.

“The U.S. is such a big country and these two are the best they can do?”

Earlier in the night

At 9:30 p.m. when Trump had 128 electoral votes and Clinton had 98, Debbie, a small business owner from Frisco, Texas was dining with with eight of her staff in Newmarket. They were in Canada on business for two days meeting with buyers. Debbie’s company sells disposable takeout containers, plastic drinking cups, napkins.

At the same time Debbie was stressing about a potential Clinton win.

She pays for her employees insurance and under Obamacare premiums have gone up 40 per cent, she said. “I want to take good care of my employees,” she said fiddling with a large diamond pendant, “and under Hillary that won’t happen. I do think Trump is a good businessman. He wasn’t my first choice of Republican candidate but he was chosen so if he is elected and surrounded by good advisors…”

The words hung in the air: “He will make America great again,” she said with a laugh before taking a bite of fried chicken.

Earlier in the night

Jacqueline Thistel, 22, stares at the TV screen in disbelief. According to CNN Trump has won Kentucky Indiana and West Virginia. It’s early in the night for election results but the Stouffville, Ont. real estate resident worries. “This will be really negative for Canada. We are so closely affiliated with the US.

“I don’t think Trudeau should publicly denounce Trump if he wins, but politically, we should separate ourselves and not alway follow their lead. For instance not blindly support every war.”

Her dining partner Chris Nevitt, a 26-year-old electrician nods in agreement and acknowledges he was extremely worried about the outcome of the election. “Trump will alter laws to make himself richer,” referring to the fact that the presidential candidate has bragged about not paying taxes. The couple turn again to stare at an enormous screen at Jack Astor’s where the Leafs game had started.

Showwei Chu, Amy Chyan and Mariam Matti in Toronto

The Democrats Abroad, the overseas arm of the Democratic Party, are gathering at a downtown Toronto restaurant to watch the results roll in. Ahead of the vote, the group’s Canadian members ran phone campaigns and helped more than 140,000 overseas voters register for the election.

Now that results are pointing to a Trump victory, the mood is somewhat deflated.

The Republicans Overseas, which is not officially affiliated with the party, has a smaller presence in Canada than its Democratic counterpart.

Elianna Lev in Vancouver

The sign outside Uncle Abe’s bar reads “Yes, we are showing the U.S. election” with the word garbage fire crossed out.

One patron and the bartender cheer to the Armageddon, as Trump edges ahead.

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” says Lisa Westerhoff. “I definitely didn’t think this would be a nerve wrecking experience I thought it’d be a no brainer. I think it says something about the way things are right now.”

Terri Coles in St. John’s

As Twitter was having a collective meltdown and the Canadian citizenship and immigration website was crashing, the mood shifted considerably at the Equal Voices NL party. Attendees who had gathered specifically to watch the first woman be elected president of the United States grew increasingly agitated as Donald Trump got more votes than expected.

Predictions as late as earlier on Election Day thought that the race may be called around 11 p.m. EST, or about 12:30 a.m. Newfoundland time. But the room began clearing out quickly close to midnight as it became clear that the race wasn’t going to be called any time soon, and it might not be called the way the attendees hoped for once it was.

Lynn Hammond, Equal Voice NL co-chair and event organizer, talks about her elementary-aged daughter — who had brought her Hillary Clinton bobblehead to the event, and wore a shirt that read “Girls Can Change The World” — as she prepares to head home and watched Trump win far more electoral college votes than most polls predicted.

“I don’t know what I’ll tell her,” Hammond says.

Earlier in the night

A Hillary Clinton bobblehead sits on the snack table at the Equal Voice NL election-watching party in St. John’s. Even as Florida remains too close to call and Donald Trump occasionally moves into the lead in the key state, Bobble Hillary holds her smile.

The party’s unofficial mascot is actually here not because of one of the adults who organized this party but because of one of the many children in attendance. “That’s actually my daughter’s,” Equal Voice NL co-chair Lynn Hammond tells Yahoo Canada News. “I didn’t know she was going to bring it.”

Hammond’s two children are among several here alternating between watching the results come in on CNN and escaping the adults to play in the lobby. Hammond says that when people began to contact her to inquire about getting people together to watch the election results, it quickly became clear that having a space that welcomed kids — as well as the many men in attendance — was essential.

“That’s how you shift the culture,” Hammond says of getting people of all ages involved in the conversation.

And because of its historical significance this will be the kind of election night that people remember watching and talk about years from now, Lisa Dempster, an MHA for the provincial Liberals and the deputy house chair, tells Yahoo Canada News. She thinks the widespread international interest in this campaign is not just because the campaign has been so long and contentious, but because of the significance of electing a woman to run one of the world’s most powerful countries.

“I wanted to be gathered with like-minded women to celebrate,” Dempster says of attending tonight. “This is not just a great day for the United States. It’s a great day for the world.”

If Clinton is declared winner later this evening it will be a happy ending to a campaign that has been marked by sexism — “not from social media trolls but from other candidates’ mouths,” Hammond says. And seeing a female president is an important step in Canada too in Equal Voice’s efforts to increase female participation in politics, including elected positions.

“Traditionally women have been very active in politics in this province, but it’s often in the back room,” Hammond says. And Dempster points out that she’s only the second female deputy house chair in the province’s history. Having positive female role models in politics not just in Canada but in this country’s closest neighbour will make a difference on both sides of the border, both women say, and get elected bodies closer to 50-per-cent representation for men and women.

“We need women at the table,” Dempster says.

Earlier in the night

Courtney Jones and Lauren Hayes are a long way from the Hillary Clinton campaign party, watching the results in a country club in Canada’s most easterly provincial capital. But they’re as excited about potentially watching a woman win the U.S. presidency as they might be if they were in Manhattan.

“Just to see her out there in this position is a big inspiration,” Jones, a member of the Young Liberals at Memorial University with Hayes, tells Yahoo Canada News. Both pointed to the importance of seeing a woman in a high-ranking position in American politics — one they hope will end with her win later this evening.

Tonight’s election is happening in another country but it still holds resonance for the group gathered at the Bally Haly Country Club in the east end of St. John’s. This election-viewing party is hosted by Equal Voice NL, the provincial chapter of the nation-wide organization that promotes female participation in politics.

The political hopes of this group is clear, thanks to the snack spread laid out under a banner reading HILLARY 2016. It’s unclear how far into the evening it’ll be in North America’s most eastern time zone before the attendees can celebrate or mourn. Polls begin to close at 8:30 p.m. Newfoundland time, and unlike in Canada results can be reported for a state once its polls are closed even if people in other parts of the U.S. are still casting votes.

Regardless of the outcome, both Hayes and Jones have been impressed with how Clinton has comported herself during a sometimes ugly campaign — pointing to the criticisms she received as being emotional and shrill.

“She has so much grace,” says Hayes. They point to Clinton’s ability to remain calm in during the debates with Republican candidate Donald Trump as a sign of her character and her confidence in her qualifications and a valuable model for young people who watch politicians as a model for appropriate behaviour.

Those qualifications, and the high office that may soon be their result, play an important role in not just encouraging women to participate in politics in the United States but also in Canada, they say. Regardless of tonight’s eventual outcome the Hillary effect has already taken hold in her own country and this one, both women say.

Carl Meyer in Ottawa

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