Sudbury

Lots has happened in Washington, but little has changed in the border town that loves Trump

It has now been one year since our neighbours to the south elected Donald Trump as their president. But right across the border in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan few opinions have changed since election day.

Chippewa County Michigan votes 60 per cent in favour of Donald Trump

Anthony Stackpoole is the chairman for the Republican Party of Chippewa County in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. (Erik White/CBC)

A lot has happened in the year since Donald Trump was elected U.S. president.

But in the border town of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, it seems little has changed since election day.

"No, I think if you hated Trump to begin with you still hate him and if you liked him and you voted for him, then you're happy," says Anthony Stackpoole, who runs a coffee shop in Sault Michigan.

He is the chair of the Chippewa County Republicans and is definitely happy with President Tump.

Stackpoole points to a soaring stock market and thousands of jobs created since Trump took office. 

He says he hasn't heard many people bring up the allegations of Russian collusion by the Trump campaign and it doesn't bother him at all. 

"I haven't seen one that's stuck yet. Even with all the help from the media," says Stackpoole.

Chippewa County Democratic Chair Allison Youngs says she's seen a spike in the number of people in Sault Michigan signing up for her party in the year since Trump was elected. (Erik White/CBC)

Chair of the local Democratic party organization Allison Youngs has had a different reaction to all the Trump news.

"Shocked. I'm still shocked everyday when I read what our current president is doing," she says. 

But living in Sault Michigan, where 60 per cent of voters backed Trump, she doesn't talk politics in public.

"I tend to talk to them about different things. I tried to find something that we actually agree on to talk about, since they are my neighbours," says Youngs.

Youngs does say she's had more people in Sault Michigan signing up to Democrats in the last year and hopes that means an election day in the near future brings the kind of change she wants to see in America.

American citizen George Sidun has lived in Sudbury for 30 years, but the election of Donald Trump is what finally inspired him to get Canadian citizenship. (Erik White/CBC )

George Sidun is originally from Erie, Pennsylvania, but has lived in Sudbury for 30 years.

He considered himself a proud American, held onto his citizenship and always thought he might move back to the states one day.

But now is he applying to become a Canadian citizen.

Sidun, who voted Democrat, says it's partly because of the "embarrassment" that President Trump has been, but also because he was forced to quit Facebook in the last year, after receiving death threats from a Trump supporter over some news articles Sidun posted.

"I can see why the rest of the world can hate the states, I can see it now for the first time ever. Not that I hate them. I don't hate them. I want to make that clear. It's just that I understand," says Sidun.

"I'm just done with those wack jobs."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Erik White

journalist

Erik White is a CBC journalist based in Sudbury. He covers a wide range of stories about northern Ontario. Send story ideas to erik.white@cbc.ca