A number of bars in the City of Calgary filled with people on Monday night, all eager to hear the first debate between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton.
The crowds were all hoping to hear what sort of fireworks would go off between the two and they were not disappointed.
“Their policies are fairly polar in terms of the things that Canadians care about in terms of immigration, pipelines, tax incentives and things like that. I think, just like any president, they’re going to have a direct impact on the economy of Canadian people,” said one man.
“It’s a very important debate, it’s setting the future of U.S. politics and their relationship with the world,” said a woman.
Local political scientists say the whole campaign may be seen as some sort of sideshow so far, but the outcome could have a serious impact on Canada.
“There are real life implications here, to our trade, to our immigration, to pipelines, to security; everything is wrapped up in this election,” said MRU political scientist Duane Bratt.
Two of the bigger viewing parties were at the Garage in Eau Claire and Schanks North.
The people who attended agreed that there was no clear winner of the debate, but the whole event was very entertaining.
