Reaction among Quebec's political leaders ranged from cautious optimism to major concern about Donald Trump being elected president of the United States.
Premier Philippe Couillard congratulated Trump Wednesday in the name of the Quebec government and the citizens of Quebec as he adjusted to the new reality.
“North America, Quebec, Canada and the world are in a state of uncertainty and potential instability,” he said, adding that he hoped that Quebec's export-based economy would continue to have good ties with the U.S., but promised to work on developing new markets, especially in Europe thanks to the recently-signed CETA free trade deal.
Couillard did note that Trump's election night speech was very conciliatory.
"The speech of the president-elect was already very different in tone from the speech of the candidate, much more unifying in its message, talking about unity for the United States both for Democrats and Republicans," said Couillard. "That was a very positive tone which I will use as a landmark for future events."
Finance Minister Carlos Leitão highlighted concerns about the Trump presidency on the economy, but said he wants to assure Quebecers.
“I would say that indeed there is market volatility. It will probably last a little while, but I don't expect this volatility to last very long,” he said.
CAQ Leader François Legault added that free trade is also at stake.
“Mr. Trump has questioned the existence of NAFTA and it clearly poses a significant risk for Quebec,” he said, adding, “The election of Donald Trump has caused a shock everywhere in the world.”
Quebec solidaire leader Francoise David was not so positive, calling Trump's vision of America "terrible," and said his election was “a little bit depressing.”
She said she spent Tuesday night fervently hoping Hillary Clinton would somehow pull off a win in key states.
"It's not only his character, especially his ideas on women, on minorities, on immigrants, on refugees, on climate questions, on LGBTQ communities. Those are the many problems," said David.
Parti Quebecois leader Jean-Francois Lisée called him “unpredictable.”
“And when you're the leader of the free world, you should be predictable,” adding that the environment is a matter of particular concern.
“Mr. Trump does not believe in global warming, does not believe in the fact that the human race is responsible for it, and will promote coal and gas and oil and I think it's a major setback for the decades of work we have done,” he said.
