THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Allison Joyce

Supporters hold signs before Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak at a campaign rally, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Canadians absorbed in the drama of the U.S. presidential election expect to flock to bars and living rooms to watch votes unfold on Tuesday, but many say the usual fanfare of viewing parties will be drowned out by anxiety sparked by this particularly combative race.

Dustin Herberman of Vaughan, Ont., says he will follow the results with his parents, who lean more to the right than he does on the political spectrum. He’s gearing up for a night of awkward chatter designed to avoid infighting over polarizing Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump.

“It’s pretty much a consensus among everyone: you shouldn’t press too many buttons during the vote,” he said of the internal rules.

Herberman, 35, plans to monitor CNN by occasionally switching to Canadian networks, but expects there to be “a little fight for control of TV” with his father: “It’s probably going to be reversed at least part of television. hour at Fox News.

For poll watchers who prefer a larger gathering, events are planned across the country, many organized by provincial political associations, nonpartisan political organizations and expatriate groups.

Meanwhile, pubs, bars and restaurants looking to boost traffic on a typically slower Tuesday will turn at least some of their screens from sports to news channels – particularly in the border town of Windsor , Ontario, where one city councilor hoped “the talk of the town” will boost business.

“This year is more exciting than any year I can remember in the 30 years I’ve lived in Windsor, there’s no doubt about it,” Renaldo Agostino said of the U.S. race.

Agostino says several bars, restaurants and a comedy club were among the businesses planning events in downtown Windsor, where U.S. news is unavoidable due to saturation of radio, television and cross-border traffic from Detroit .

In Toronto, VideoCabaret’s “Vox Pop ’24: The Elephant Rolls Over, An American Election Watch Party” will also serve as a fundraiser for the theater’s upcoming 50th anniversary. The “evening of satire, music and scintillating banter” promises live entertainment, panel discussions, special videos, and a themed buffet and bar, say organizers Janet Burke and Anand Rajaram.

Importantly, it will provide a safe space to process what will likely be an incendiary outcome, regardless of the outcome of the vote, Burke says.

“You look around and people were like, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to look,’ ‘I’m going to hide under my bed,’ ‘I’m just going to wake up the next day and see.’ what’s going on,” says Burke, a founding member of the theater.

“So we invited people to come and wring their hands. Let’s all join hands and see what happens.

And when the results are known, “we will run away or jump with great relief,” she says.

Like Agostino, political marketing expert Dave Bussiere senses “heightened interest” and greater curiosity among Canadians than was seen in the previous two U.S. elections.

Bussiere, an associate professor at the University of Windsor, leads a political marketing course focused on predicting the fate of Harris and Trump and says he will observe the results with the neutrality of a “scientist.”

But he can easily see how emotions can get the best of some observers.

“The support for each of the two parties has become more polar. So I could imagine that people, if they are having a watch party, want to be among those who agree. People don’t seem to have as much patience, or don’t.” I don’t have much patience with people who support the other party.

Bussière says he will follow the TV reports with his wife and son, but he also plans to connect virtually with his brother in Montreal, his two daughters in Toronto and his students.

Canadian primetime coverage on Tuesday is expected to include live CBC reporting from chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault and senior Washington correspondent Paul Hunter; an expert panel on CTV News Channel led throughout the evening by Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos, while “CTV National News with Omar Sachedina” will be on location in Washington, D.C.

Global News’ Dawna Friesen and her correspondents are set to host a national live broadcast available on GlobalNews.ca, YouTube, the Global TV app, Pluto TV and Prime.

Rajaram says his event doesn’t pretend to lean toward Harris and away from harsh rhetoric that has particularly targeted marginalized groups.

“We say in the invitations, cheekily: Don’t be alone on election night. But it goes way beyond that. It’s: ‘You don’t need to be alone,’ period,” says Rajaram , associate artistic director of VideoCabaret. .

“There is a community of people here who are as invested in the world and this worldview as you are, and we want to be a hub where people feel safe and supported.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published November 2, 2024.