Donald Trump’s win in the American election left the world asking how a man who advocated for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” and who supported a database of all Muslims in the country could be president. Are Canadians immune to such xenophobic politics? We may not be.

On Nov. 9, many awoke to disbelief that a man who used such hateful, misogynistic and racist rhetoric throughout his campaign could garner 60.5 million votes in the U.S. presidential election. Donald Trump is the president-elect. Trump’s victory was shortly followed by the memorials of Nov. 11, providing a bombardment of reminders of what can result when fearmongering is used to harness political triumph.

Donald Trump’s victory comes at a great price for many Americans.

Despite the hateful rhetoric throughout the campaign, Trump’s message was one of change. The message was a toxic one, yet it was supported by 290 electoral votes. The want for such extreme political change was grossly underestimated in the polls.

Even 24 hours before the election, many news outlets projected a sweeping Hillary Clinton win. CBC News had a prediction of Clinton receiving 323 electoral votes — a number nowhere near the 232 she received.

Some Americans nonchalantly responded with the idea of moving to Canada, as if we are the promised land against the hateful rhetoric developing in a world becoming forced to confront the global conflicts of the 21st century.

Perhaps Canadians are viewed as too polite to ever use such discourse. “We should be glad to live in Canada” was a common phrase used after the election.

Yet, the moment that we as a nation underestimate the political power of hate is the moment we willingly subject ourselves to the dangerous rhetoric and results of the 2016 American election.

Underestimating Trump’s potency is what left the U.S. in shock on Nov. 9, and saying we should be glad to live in Canada demonstrates how the country may not be immune to misjudgement. As former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney once said, “In politics, madame, you need two things: friends, but above all an enemy.”

Trump’s list of enemies in politics would not be considered a short one. Pitting individuals against one another and blaming immigrants for the list of problems in America was the cornerstone of his campaign.

At a rally in June 2015, Trump referred to Mexican immigrants, saying, “They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists.” He later acknowledged the Syrian refugee crisis saying he was, “putting the people on notice that are coming here from Syria as part of this mass migration, that if I win, if I win, they’re going back”.

Yet Trump’s election was not the only recent use of anti-immigration slogans and scaremongering. Brexit referendum posters released by the United Kingdom Independence Party showed large crowds of refugees in Slovenia with the slogan underneath “We must break free of the E.U. and take back control of our borders.”

Economic difficulties in Britain were pinned as the fault of migrants. On the verge of voting day for Brexit, many polls forecasted 53.5 per cent would vote to remain in the European Union. In the end, xenophobia was also underestimated, later resulting in 52 per cent who voted to exit.

The Brexit aftermath demonstrates the consequences of using such intolerant rhetoric to gain political triumph. According to The Independent, violent hate crimes increased 140 per cent directly following the first week of the Brexit results. Considering the similarities between the campaigns used in Brexit and the U.S. election, this percentage is chilling.

Perhaps Canada is different. In the last year, we resettled over 33,000 Syrian refugees. However, underestimating the influence of the political rhetoric that occurred in both Brexit and the American election only leaves room for the discourse to continue to spread. 

Canadian Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch responded to Trump’s win as an “exciting message,” wanting to screen migrants for what she refers to as “Canadian values.”

Xenophobia appears to be spreading like global wildfire and it is our responsibility to stifle the spark. By underestimating the power these comments may hold, we only continue to feed the flame — duplicating mistakes of other nations and resulting in violent hate crimes or Trump-like consequences.

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Kara Tastad

Photo: Flickr / marcn