A Montrealer who has just moved to New Mexico plans to return home as soon as she can, so that her unborn daughter does not have to endure Donald Trump’s regime.
“I’m afraid for me and for her. We want to leave as quickly as possible,” confides Gabriella Pelletier the day after the victory of the Republican billionaire.
The 29-year-old mother-to-be fears the next four years of Trump’s presidency, even in the city of Albuquerque, a Democratic stronghold where she followed her husband who landed a job there six months ago.
“I don’t feel comfortable sending my child to school because there are stories of shootings every week. It’s going to be worse with Trump’s pro-arma policy,” whispers the woman whose delivery is scheduled for December.
This is without counting the right to abortion, threatened by the majority Republicans in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
“Having an abortion to save her own life, my daughter won’t be able to do that. For me, it’s just unacceptable that a woman doesn’t have this power over her body,” says the 29-year-old woman, who works in public health.
Plan B
The University of Miami graduate will not be able to return to Canada straight away, since she is in the process of obtaining her American citizenship and cannot leave the country.
She is not the only one thinking of a plan B for the next few years.
Established for around fifteen years in Santa Fe, Yvon Villeneuve is also thinking of packing his bags.
“I didn’t expect that. It represents quite a right turn, but at the same time, coming back is complex,” explains the 82-year-old man.
Suffering from a heart condition, he fears not having easy access to a family doctor in Quebec.
Worry
These two Quebecers in the United States are not the only ones eyeing this side of the border.
Montreal immigration lawyer Marc-André Séguin is already receiving calls from people worried by the Republican victory.
“These are people in difficult and precarious situations who want to come to Canada or find a plan B,” he explains.
In Washington on election night, there was a “cut with a knife” atmosphere. “It was a ghost town. Everyone was holding their breath,” he said.
– With Martin Lavoie, Le Journal de Québec
