Can Americans actually flee to Canada if Trump is elected?

By Laura Bohnert

Ever since Trump started pulling ahead in the polls, a not-so-insincere joke has been circulating in which American citizens comment that, in the event Trump wins, they will be moving to Canada. In fact, a radio host in Nova Scotia even started a website advocating that Americans fleeing Trump should move to Cape Breton. But, how likely is a US mass exodus to occur in the event that the Whitehouse dons its Trumpean hairpiece?

While it would be unrealistic to expect the US to empty out into a barren wasteland reminiscent of Mad Max, it is actually pretty likely that a few US citizens will make the move to the Great White North—in fact, it has already happened.

Back in 2004, when George W. Bush was re-elected as president of the United States, a record-breaking 179,000 people visited Canada’s official immigration website. The majority of these individuals were American.

While all 179,000 people did not end up moving to Canada, there were some that did, and they maintain that they do not regret their decision to leave the US behind them.

Even all the way back in September, a study found that four per cent of the 4.5 million Trump-related tweets involved threats to leave the US, and 25,000 of those claimed Canada as their destination.

Canadians, for the most part, have been amused with the statement—and many are even empathetic—however, that brings us to a concerning issue: why are Canadians more willing to accept American political refugees than they are to accept refugees from war-torn countries like Syria?

Not that I wish to feed the massive ego that’s buried underneath that hideous hairdo, but Trump isn’t quite as awful as the threat of being shot while struggling to find clean water for your children in a city whose infrastructure is in shambles.

So, why is it that we can see the validation of the US need to relocate, but we only see the potential threat of those whose only alternative option to becoming a refugee more than likely involves death?

It’s a question we desperately need to consider; if we only willingly open our borders to one type of political refugee—if our country offers exclusive admittance—then we are no better than Trump, and that statement should frighten every one of us.