Canadians are also facing the reality that we live in a country that isn’t the champion of multiculturalism it advertises itself to be. There’s been a rise in white supremacist groups and a surge in hate crimes in recent years, which can be linked to what’s happening in the U.S. “Once Trump came into office, it gave permission to other political leaders to perform racism in the same way,” policy analyst and Toronto-based political consultant Brittany Andrew-Amofah says. See: Trump’s “Muslim ban” passed within his first 100 days in office; that time he said there were “very fine people on both sides” of the deadly white supremacist riots in Charlottesville and, most recently, when he told four American congresswomen of colour to “go back” to their countries. The U.S. president’s affinity for Twitter has only made things worse. “It has allowed racist, misogynist, white nationalist voices to find a stage and an audience here in Canada,” says Bezanson. It used to be a kiss-of-death to explicitly run on a platform of hate. Now, it’s a strategy. Look at People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier — he denies climate change evidence, doesn’t believe systemic racism exists , and he unequivocally supports Bill 21 , the Quebec law that bans religious symbolism in the public sector.