U.S Election Watch Party at Candid

On Tuesday November 5, the StFX Political Science Society, Xaverian Progressive Conservatives, Young Liberals and the History Society organized a watch party for the U.S election at Candid Brewery. By the time it ended at midnight, it appeared likely to everyone that Donald Trump would secure enough votes in the electoral college to become president of the United States for the second time. Trump’s second term is expected to be one that continues to roll back reproductive and other human rights, weaponize government institutions, and inflame right-wring nationalism.

“The results of this election are extremely disheartening”, says Sophia Kydd, a third-year Honours Psychology student. “It solidifies how prevalent racism and misogyny are in our society, as two qualified, accomplished women, one being of colour, have now lost to Donald Trump. Trump takes responsibility for the overturn of Roe V. Wade, and while reproductive rights are determined at the state level, him in office greatly influences these laws. As a passionate pro-choice woman myself, your opinions on abortion aside, these extreme abortion bans have already and will kill women concerning sepsis, ectopic pregnancies, (etc.). As the U.S influences the rest of the world, the attack on reproductive rights in America is an attack on these rights everywhere."

Before the results came in, Simon Maltby, an Education student, said he was interested in the US election “because no matter who wins, it’s going to have an impact on us here in Canada. Also, for the U.S., it would be good for public confidence in the government to see a swift and peaceful transition of power.”

Emily Richard, president of the History Society, shared Simon’s belief. “Regardless of the outcome, this election is a major historical event that we need to recognize as we live through it”, she explains, “The only way to enact change for the future is to acknowledge these events and political issues as they occur”.

“I think it’s important for students to come together on issues in order to stay educated on past and recent world events”, says Mya Burke, Young Liberals president. “It’s hard to make sense of who we are and what we value if never given the opportunity to see both sides of the coin. Regardless of who you are, you can take something away from an event like this”.

President of Xaverian Progressive Conservatives Josh Kroker believes it’s important for students to follow politics because “once we stop watching elections and other democratic processes, that’s when democracy dies”

An Instagram Account called sillyneoliberals.69 posted a critique last week criticizing the watch party. Sillyneoliberals.69 posts rant-style articles, often critiquing “centrist” culture at StFX. The Xaverian Weekly has twice been targeted for articles about the Gender-Neutral washrooms at the Inn and controversial philosophy professor Dr. Mark Mercer. The account also posts pictures of Brian Mulroney with googly-eyes on his face.

The post is called “As the World Watches the American Elections in Horror, StFX Polisci Student & Their Weird-Ass Political Party Societies Wanna Share a Beer Over it at a LIVE Watch Party... smfh”. The account’s argument centers on the ethical problems posed by treating very real dangers to the lives of marginalized people too conceptually; “often like thought experiments or hypotheticals”.

This post lists some of the election issues this cycle, “the right to bodily autonomy, access to healthcare, access to gender-affirming care, policies around gun violence, immigration laws, education laws about access to knowledge about sexual diversity and the history of the oppression of Black Americans, the legitimization of police brutality against racialized people, climate policy, the degree and strategy of America’s continued support for the active genocide against the Palestinian people...”. The account argues that “so much is at stake here and as the world watches in horror, these BUFFOONS... want to organize a LIVE WATCH PARTY to jerk each other off and say ‘OMG we are SO politically engaged’” .

The post concludes with, “The only watch party of American politicians fucking the world up I am interested in attending is one in which we all hold each other and cry for the state of global politics today... You are not inviting politicians and organizing events like this because you care about politics or the state of the world”.