No disputing this Trump victory

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/12/2016 (3214 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Some people will remember 2016 as the year of the music industry funeral, as we said goodbye to the likes of David Bowie, Prince and Leonard Cohen.

Others will look back and think of Pokemon Go, the Rio Olympics, Brexit or the Zika virus.

But overwhelmingly, the memory of what shook down in 2016 will focus on one person: Donald Trump.

The 70-year-old real estate tycoon who will, in a matter of weeks, become the 45th president of the United States, not only defied the pollsters and the odds, he defied all political norms and cemented a global shift toward xenophobia and populism.

While the U.S. government is investigating whether Russian intelligence interfered with the U.S. election, one things is clear: Trump didn’t need Russia’s help to be chosen by Free Press readers as the international newsmaker of the year. It was a landslide victory, beating out the refugee crisis and war in Syria, the Islamic State attacks in Europe and the so-called Brexit.

He is the man who introduced to us words such as “bigly” and “braggadocious” and is taking his reality television celebrity status into the most powerful office in the western world.

Trump is nothing if not a polarizing figure. In New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the days immediately before and after the election, there was pro-Trump and anti-Trump. There was not a big no man’s land between. In a hotel restaurant in downtown Manchester, N.H., the waitress came over to serve coffee and noticed the Hillary Clinton pin on the lapel of a patron’s suit jacket.

“Oh,” she said, pausing. “You’re with her.”

She added, “We can still be friends,” but you could, in that moment, sense the depth of the discord in America.

In the weeks since, the effect of Trump’s victory has been felt in corners around the world. Democrats in the U.S. are despondent, fearing for what will happen to everything from abortion laws to public school funding to nuclear proliferation.

In one tweet just before Christmas, Trump set off a global shock wave about the possibility of a renewed arms race when he tweeted, “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.”

For Canadians watching from just north of the longest undefended border in the world, the spectacle of the U.S. presidential election has been a combination of entertainment and wide-eyed wonder. Trump had few fans in Canada.

An Ipsos poll taken the week before the Nov. 9 election found 51 per cent of Canadians would have voted for Clinton, compared with 13 per cent who would have voted for Trump. There were more people who said they would not vote at all than would vote for him.

Another poll suggested 80 per cent of Canadians feared a Trump presidency. An Angus Reid Forum poll taken after Trump won found 52 per cent of Canadians think a Trump presidency will hurt Canada-U.S. relations and 57 per cent think it will hurt trade.

Nik Nanos, chairman of Nanos Research Group, said Canada will not be immune from the Trump effect.

“He can, and already is, having an impact on the style of politics in Canada,” said Nanos, who is also a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. “We are seeing copycat politicians here. They see a certain type of politics can be successful, and politicians are always on the lookout for things that work.”

Conservative leadership contender Kellie Leitch has praised Trump and called his win “an exciting message” that is needed in Canada.

Her dismissal of any critics as “elites” mimics Trump. While it’s unclear how well Leitch is doing in the race, her fundraising has been top-notch, and some emails mirror Trump-like messages.

Trump’s policies can also have a significant impact on Canada’s economy. He has already promised to “rip up” the North American Free Trade Agreement. As our largest trading partner, any changes that move toward more protections for U.S. industry could hurt Canada.

In a year-end interview with The Canadian Press, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wouldn’t respond to the potential impact of Trump policies, such as a planned corporate income tax cut, saying he wouldn’t respond to “hypotheticals.”

“Obviously, you have to be thoughtful about potential paths, but I’m not going to react to an administration that’s not actually in place yet,” Trudeau said.

Trudeau also said he will defend the interests of Canada however he has to.

“In certain situations, it’s to work in a very collaborative way. In other situations, it will be to be very clear that we do not share the same values,” he said.

Trump and Trudeau are night and day on many policies. Trump wants to block Muslims from entering the U.S., while Trudeau went to an airport to greet Syrian refugees. Trump has nominated a climate-change skeptic to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, while Trudeau recently imposed a nation-wide price on carbon across the country.

Canadians in the last year have watched, often with amusement, the bromance between Trudeau and U.S. President Barack Obama. Their friendship, viewed in public at international summits and the state dinner hosted for Trudeau in March, spawned hundreds of memes and humourous tweets.

While it’s unlikely Trudeau will enjoy the same relationship with Trump, Nanos said it may not be as bad as some think. For starters, both largely campaigned on their personal brand,

“They both understand the power of being a celebrity, the power of social media and of symbolism,” Nanos said.

That said, Trump is unpredictable and has a very thin skin.

“I think it is possible for them to have a cordial relationship, but it is also possible for it to be erratic,” said Nanos.

Trump’s biggest critics have decried his inflammatory comments about Muslims and Mexicans and the rise of hate crimes since his win. In the first week after he won the election, the Southern Poverty Law Centre recorded 200 complaints of hate crimes.

Numerous videos have been posted on YouTube of self-proclaimed Trump supporters lashing out at minorities in public. In early December, the Ku Klux Klan held a celebratory rally in North Carolina.

This has spilled over into Canada, with racist signs and graffiti showing up across the country and incidents of hate being reported to authorities at unusual levels.

Manitoba Sen. Murray Sinclair, the former chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said he has great fear about what Trump’s victory will mean because it has emboldened bigots.

“Just in terms of civil rights and human rights, I have a grave concern that people in Canada are now living a slightly more vulnerable existence because the attitude of the incoming president of the United States towards Muslims, towards people of Hispanic descent,” Sinclair said.

“It has created a momentum that enhances the ability of racists to be more vocal in their racism. People don’t necessarily feel they have licence to commit crimes, but they feel it is almost going to be tolerated and it’s justifiable, and unfortunately, I think we’re going to see more of that.”

Trump will be sworn in Jan. 20. He will be the oldest U.S. president to take office, and with an estimated net worth of $3.7 billion, the wealthiest ever.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca