I don’t often weigh in on politics in the US (except to crush on Bo Obama (the President’s pup) and to declare my long-standing admiration for Hillary Clinton) but every damn day there is another story in my newsfeed about the racist/misogynist/clearly mentally ill, leading American Republican (GOP) presidential candidate Donald Trump. And every damn day I am grateful to live in Canada, a country where such fanatic and dangerous ideology would never fly. 

We may have “Prime Minister Selfie” as some prefer to call Justin Trudeau but we are a progressive country that accepts innocents from war-torn countries, views women as equals and not objects – half of our cabinet is female because 2015 – and would never discriminate, denigrate or punish an individual because of their religion. Our biggest controversy is whether our leader employs a nanny or two. 

Last week, the leading GOP candidate (no matter how many times I read that, I still can’t believe it) announced that should he be elected president,Trump will enforce a “total and complete” ban on Muslims entering the US. Less than 24 hours later, anyone with half a brain (and Dick Cheney) had come out to condemn Trump and his statement. And for good reason. Banning an individual based on religion has shades of Denaturalization Laws legislated by Hitler-controlled Germany in 1933 or the interment camps that imprisoned Japanese, Italian and Germans. Let that sink in for a moment. 

Do you have family that were persecuted during the Second World War? My children certainly do. What if you had a leader that declared that Jewish (or Muslim or Catholic or gay or agnostic) families, children and other “undesirables” inadmissible”? That those people were exterminated in concentration camps because of their religious beliefs? What if after 6 million people died, future generations promised “Never again” and yet…here we are. 

Every day I wonder “but what can I do?” I’m Canadian and admittedly enjoy sitting back with a bowl of popcorn to watch the US political side show. Mercifully, we do not have deal with such bullshit when it comes to political leadership. But as Arianna Huffington wrote in her editorial in The Huffington Post “We are no longer entertained.”

When I drive through downtown Vancouver I see the Trump International Hotel and Tower (Vancouver) taking macabre form on one of our most visible streets. I may not be able to vote against Trump in an presidential election but maybe I can prevent his repugnant name and values from sullying my city’s beautiful skyline.There is extreme pressure on the Vancouver-based developers of the property Holborn Group to remove Trump’s name from the building and it is my sincere hope that they do the right thing. And that our neighbours to the south also realize that it’s time to dump Trump. 

Author

Pam is a Vancouver-based mother of two who writes with honesty, humor & hope about her post-wife life at divorcedoula.me After working through a difficult separation and divorce. she now enjoys a enlightened co-parenting relationship with her former husband. She started DivorceDoula.me to share her experiences and resources with others who may be going through a separation or divorce of their own.

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