As the post-mortems of the stunning (to a point) ascension of show biz miscreant Donald Trump to the White House continue, I suppose it’s inevitable that some will examine the question of whether such a turn of events could happen in this country.
The short answer is “unlikely”, but there’s more to it than that. What’s troubling is that some of the elements that drove Trump’s momentum — racism, intolerance and misogyny – are very much on display in Canada, albeit not at the same level as exists south of the border.
In assessing whether a Trump-like populist could emerge in this country, it’s important to remember Canada doesn’t have a huge “working class” of uneducated white males (at least not in numbers that could make a difference in an election).
And we lack the huge racial divide that has cleaved the U.S. into increasingly distant camps. More than one historian has suggested the U.S has never really stopped fighting its Civil War.
But despite those important differences, it’s not as if this country (and province) have some kind of purity when it comes public discourse.
Recently, this province witnessed two high profile examples of ugly racism in full public view. First, there was that video of the village idiot spouting racist slurs in an Abbotsford parking lot at a Canadian citizen who happened to also be of Indo-Canadian descent.
- B.C. Conservative leader pledges not to ‘reopen the abortion debate’
- A look inside the now-sidelined ‘floatel’ meant to house LNG workers near Squamish
- South Surrey restaurant forced to close after suspicious fire, more criminal acts reported
- Canfor to shutter B.C. sawmill, curtail Prince George pulp mill
The video has gone semi-viral, and the hate–spewing loser now faces criminal charges. Then there is the alarming distribution of racist leaflets in Richmond, essentially warning of a Chinese “invasion” of the community.
Richmond is a vibrant, humming municipality booming in economic growth, much of it fueled by immigration and economic investment from China, Japan and Korea. If anything, the municipality owes a big thanks to the Asian-Canadian community for turning it into such a success story, and not being the distribution point of a virulent flyer that reads like something out of Alabama in the 1960s.
But those are hardly isolated incidents. If you doubt that I invite you to read the thread of comments that follow the posting of all kinds of news stories on various media outlets’ web sites or Facebook sites.
The comments are often inflammatory to the point of being alarming, often crossing the line when it comes to sexism, racism and intolerance. The comments are invariably aimed at whatever political party or leader that happens to be forming government.
In B.C. the biggest target is B.C. Premier Christy Clark (derided as “Crusty” and much worse by these near-literate self-important posters) and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (who has inherited the large target his predecessor Stephen Harper wore on his back on the internet for years).
Presumably, if NDP leader John Horgan’s party wins next spring’s election he will become a major target for the wrath of many (a major reason he isn’t now is likely because few people even know who he is, as he continues to enjoy maintaining a very low public profile).
The most offensive comments are often posted anonymously, which is not surprising since cowards usually don’t sign their names.
Some media outlets are removing on-line comments altogether, while others are trying to do a better job at policing them and removing the most offensive ones (an increasingly difficult task as many outlets are shedding staff).
Finally, we come to two other female politicians. Alberta Conservative MLA Sandra Jansen bolted her party to join the NDP government caucus, because of serious harassment and sexist attacks from her old colleagues because she dared to run for party leader.
And then there is federal Conservative leadership candidate, MP Kellie Leitch, who seems determined to run a “Trump-lite” campaign, with her call for a “Canadian values test” for prospective immigrants (sound familiar, Trump backers?).
Leitch applauded Trump’s election, calling his victory an “important message” that needs to be delivered in this country.
Leitch is unlikely to forge a path to government with such talk, but she’ll get some support. That’s because like it or not, for all our Canadian smugness that we would never elect such an offensive candidate such as Trump, there exists among us a large vein of intolerance, increasingly on public display.
Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global BC. This is reprinted from his weekly column with Glacier Media.
Comments