Several hundred protesters held a noisy demonstration in downtown Montreal Friday to protest Donald Trump‘s inauguration as U.S. president.
The group gathered near the Place des Arts Metro station, then walked past the American Consulate.
There, they lit an American flag and Trump’s effigy on fire.
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Protesters insisted they needed to come out to voice their opposition to Trump assuming the role of president.
“I feel like I had to be here so that I would not be home miserably depressed,” said Kerry McElroy.
Originally from Chicago, McElroy has lived in Canada for seven years.
With Trump her new president, she has no interest in returning to the United States.
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“I’m absolutely heartbroken, horrified, disgusted, angry, sad,” she told Global News.
“Sad for my former country. I love living here. I feel worried for them back home.”
Thousands of Americans currently live in Montreal, many saying they’re appalled and worried.
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“I feel that I and everyone here is going to do as much work as they can to fight against whatever comes of the Trump presidency,” said Eamon Toohey, one of the protest organizers.
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Jacob Levy, a political science professor at McGill University, told Global News he watched Trump’s inauguration address with deep disappointment and skepticism.
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“Everyone in the western world should be deeply concerned by this,” Levy said.
The professor, who specializes in American politics, said he feels Trump’s speech was divisive and full of falsehoods.
He warns Canadians should be worried.
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“If he approaches NAFTA with an attitude that it needs to be re-negotiated – as if that’s something one party of a treaty can decide, that casts the whole state of North American trade relations into a deep uncertainty,” Levy said.
“That uncertainty is very bad for Canada and the Canadian economy.”
American Marc Selzer represents a group called Democrats Abroad in Montreal that has 2,000 members.
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Although he doesn’t support Trump, he feels knee-jerk criticism won’t help.
“I felt he was more of a joke than a serious thinker,” Selzer said.
“I am not going to say that now because he’s president, so I am going to change my tone because he is there in a position that has a lot of power.”