Six Million Canadians Back Trump?

 

Lawrence Martin writes that a sizeable minority of Canadians, six million, support Donald Trump or his ideology.

It’s a number – more than the population of British Columbia – that’s not easy to fathom. It shows how susceptible Canada is to American currents. It suggests that as we watch Americans recall the horror of that day, we should refrain from gloating. The corrosive forces at work in the U.S. are alive and well here.

We recall after the election that Mr. Trump began his campaign to negate the result with his wild-eyed stop-the-steal campaign. A poll by the Angus Reid Institute found that no less than 41 per cent of Canadian Conservative voters agreed with him that the election was unfair and should be contested. Overall, the number of Canadians who agreed was 18 per cent, which is in the six-million neighbourhood.

It need be noted that this is less that half the percentage of Americans who continue to back Mr. Trump. But it’s still remarkable given his shredding of democratic values, his race-baiting, his sleaze, his pandering to people’s worst instincts, his serial lying, his record of sexual harassment, his retrograde policy stances and, in Canada’s case, his dismissive treatment.

Well, Duh!

The Trump appeal lies primarily in the Prairie provinces. Among the many reasons for his support, said Abacus Data chairman Bruce Anderson in an interview, is his ransacking of political correctness. There’s a good-sized market for it, “especially among those who harbour resentment towards minorities, women, immigrants.”

Being pro-oil and one who scoffs at climate change wins him support in the West, and he’s struck a chord, as he has in the U.S., with people who detest political institutions, wokeism and elites. Moreover, Mr. Anderson says, “he beats up on the mainstream media and there’s a pretty large – and I think growing market – for that.”

Ekos Research president Frank Graves, who has done extensive research on right-wing populism in Canada, said in an interview that the Trumpians tend to be under the age of 50, working class, male, less educated and located mainly outside urban cores.

“My view is that the same forces that produced the Trump presidency in the U.S. are at work in Canada, albeit on a smaller scale.” Trump apostles debase the national dialogue. Their effect, he said, is corrosive on Canadian values, unity, institutions.

Maxime's Misfits, and More.

Though the People’s Party of Canada denies being a home for Trumpians, there is likely some overlap, and its level of support in the next few years could be a barometer.

Whatever the case, should Mr. Trump return to power he could well have a large cohort of Canadians supporting him and his destabilizing designs.

It’s of paramount concern, said Mr. Anderson, and media organizations, for one, have to step up. They’ve been contributing to the problem “by chasing the clicks rather than modulating the debate, and by removing guardrails rather than protecting a civil conversation.”