Editor: Perhaps like you, the surprising outcome of the U.S. election triggered many thoughts and emotions within me.
While the full implications for Canada will remain unclear for some time, we should treat it both as a wakeup call and a call to action.
The U.S. election was about resistance to change and economic anxiety. It was also about xenophobia and misogyny.
When you consider this result, Brexit and the popularity of anti-immigration parties in Western Europe, it feels like a blowback moment in the world’s march toward greater peace and compassion for others. Donald Trump’s victory was a defeat for so many of the values that we, as Canadians, hold dear. His campaign was a heartbreaking blow to the collective efforts to build a more inclusive and tolerant society.
We must do what we can to ensure that similar ideas are not normalized and allowed to take root in Canada.
Let’s not kid ourselves, the populist Trump phenomenon could happen here. If not an anti-immigrant movement, it could have the same seed: too many people feeling excluded from the economic and social benefits enjoyed by the middle class. Current and aspiring political leaders ignore the marginalized in our society at their peril.
In contrast to recent Canadian elections, the U.S. election had little to do with the field I work in, climate and energy policy. It was rarely discussed as a policy issue on the campaign trail, but then again, little policy was discussed, period.
Trump did threaten to cancel the Paris climate agreement, and his presidency is clearly a challenge to the post-Paris momentum that the world has worked so hard to maintain.
Fortunately, pulling out of the agreement would not be easy for the U.S. legally, and any such move would provoke swift reaction from global leaders and the industry that drives much of the economy.
POTUS (President of the United States) is not omnipotent – the international community has figured out its own way of dealing with rogue U.S. presidents. And this particular POTUS will get himself into trouble all over the place because of his leadership style, creating constant distraction for him and his administration.
Make no mistake, there will be setbacks on some issues where we have seen progress in recent years. But, as we have seen here in Canada, much progress can still be made at the subnational level.
There is much momentum at all levels of government – both here and in the U.S. – toward creating a more inclusive and tolerant society, and tackling important environmental issues.
Let’s use this election outcome as an opportunity to raise our level of ambition, demand more progress, and build on our tremendous momentum.
Ed Whittingham,
Banff
