So will Kamala Harris triumph tonight after running a disciplined campaign and leading the Democrats for just three months? Or will Donald Trump return to the Oval Office despite a campaign that became increasingly chaotic as election day approached?

The world is watching — Canadian policymakers chief among them. The Canada-U.S. relationship is a critical one for government officials given the deep economic ties between both countries. Today in The Conversation Canada, Kevin Quigley of the MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance at Dalhousie University explains how scenario planning could be particularly helpful to Canada’s policymakers, especially if the results are close and turmoil ensues in the United States.

He writes: “Policymakers increasingly need tools and skills that allow them to anticipate, address and communicate risks over which they have limited control … the U.S. election and its aftermath in the weeks and months to come are a salient and consequential example.”

In a second story, Quigley writes about the Trump administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how a second Trump presidency could affect the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — and the implications for Canada.

Today, we’ll have an analysis on the importance of accepting defeat after losing elections.

Our global network, meantime, also has a number of stories on the U.S. election, including an explainer on when polls close today and when results will be known, another on the Electoral College and what Trump means when he talks about dismantling the “deep state.”

Also today:

• Canada and the churches have moral obligations for the reparations of missing and disappeared Indigenous children: Final Report
• Scott Moe won in Saskatchewan promising economic prosperity, but does that truly help citizens?