Upon realizing America’s dismal fate on Nov. 9 at 3 a.m., many of us were struck with the fleeting, only semi-serious idea of, “Maybe I should finally check out that Canadian immigration website.” While disappointed Americans merely joked amongst one another about their potential future up north, America can still definitely take some pointers from the country, especially from Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.
- Trudeau recognizes terrorists as terrorists, regardless of race or religion.
After the tragic killing of six Muslims at a Quebec mosque, Trudeau classified this attack as a “terrorist attack on Muslims” despite the fact that the shooter was white. While the official definition of a terrorist is anyone who uses “violence or intimidation” to accomplish “political purposes,” unfortunately, many seem to only define a terrorist only as someone who identifies as Muslim. In response to people deeming this recent tragedy as a “lone wolf situation,” Trudeau responded, “Make no mistake. This was a terrorist attack.”
- He opens Canada’s doors to refugees and offers refuge to those fleeing persecution who are denied help by the United States.
After Donald Trump issued the ban on immigration from the Islamic countries of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya, Trudeau announced that Canada would accept anyone “fleeing persecution, terror and war” regardless of their faith or ethnicity. Trudeau also made one of his administration’s primary goals to increase the number of Syrian refugees accepted into Canada, integrating 39,671 refugees since he took office in 2015. Though the Obama administration aimed to accept 110,000 new refugees by the end of 2017, Trump has placed an indefinite ban on the admission of Syrian refugees into the United States.
- Trudeau advocates for gender equality and is a self-proclaimed feminist.
Upon taking office in 2015, Trudeau elected Canada’s first gender-equal cabinet and when asked for the reason behind this decision, simply replied, “because it’s 2015.” Trudeau has also publicly identified himself as a feminist, proclaiming that he will continue doing so “until there is no reaction.” Trudeau is also an avid supporter of female reproductive rights, which is refreshing considering the current war over a woman’s uterus in America right now. Contrarily to Trump’s sexist “locker room talk” regarding women, Trudeau says he wants to set a positive example for both his sons and daughter to advocate for women’s rights.
- He takes action against climate change… and also believes it exists.
With the recent, blatant ignorance toward science in America, it appears as if the country itself has become void of all logical reasoning. However, in Canada, Justin Trudeau is taking steps to slow the process of climate change by initiating state taxes on carbon use that will make carbon less accessible and therefore reduce the rate and amount of carbon emissions in the atmosphere. The money generated from these taxes will be used toward investing in cleaner, renewable energy sources to reduce the necessity of coal and other carbon-emitting energy sources. Meanwhile, in the United States, the climate change tab on the White House website has been deleted and the director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has avidly been trying to sue the EPA and doesn’t believe in climate change.
While these are only a few of the positive qualities about the current administration in Canada, with the chaos erupting in America right now, I think it is safe to say that Donald Trump should break out a pint-sized pen to jot down some notes and learn a thing or two from Justin Trudeau.
