With just hours to go before the United States presidential election, some Americans are thinking seriously about permanently moving to Canada. Especially if the election’s outcome is a second term for President Donald Trump.
Lee Cohen, a Halifax-based immigration lawyer, estimates he’s received a 25 per cent increase in calls from American citizens inquiring about immigration to Canada within the last six months.
“The overarching theme is absolutely Donald Trump, the current election, the generation of fear and divisiveness,” he said.
Cohen received a spike in similar calls 20 years ago after George W. Bush was re-elected for his second term.
A familiar situation
Back then, the calls were mostly people assessing the situation, figuring out the process of immigrating to Canada. But this time, Cohen said the tone is different.
Today is election day in the United States. And the prospect of four more years of Donald Trump has some Americans looking to move to Canada. Reporter Kayla Hounsell introduces us to one woman who says, even if she doesn’t qualify for immigration, she plans to seek asylum. 2:06
“The callers are not speculating. They’re not tire kicking. These are people who want to move to Canada. These are people who want to leave the United States,” he said.
“There’s a genuine fear that the current president is a corrupted criminal.”
Rosette Molnar, a health-care worker in Waterbury, Conn., said she’s frightened at the thought of another four years under Trump.
“It scares me and it honestly makes me want to leave this country. If this is the America that I have to look forward to, I don’t want to be here anymore,” she said.
Molnar, who is Black, said racism in America is more prevalent than ever under the Trump administration because the president seems to “fan the flames” of racism instead of condemning it.
There was a bump in calls from U.S. citizens asking about Canadian immigration in 2000 when George W. Bush ran for re-election against Democratic candidate Al Gore, says Halifax-based immigration lawyer Lee Cohen. (Ed Reinke/The Associated Press)
She said being Black in America is exhausting, especially when she turns on the news to learn about another Black person killed by police.
“I feel like Black people are an endangered species in America. I feel like we’re being hunted,” she said.
Rosette Molnar of Connecticut said she’s ready to pack her bags and leave the country for good if President Trump is re-elected. (CBC)
Molnar said the existence of the electoral college makes the country feel like a “dictatorship,” citing how Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but ultimately lost the election to Trump in 2016.
“If they can make the decision … of who the next president is, then how is this a democracy? How are we free? How do our votes even matter?” she said.
Sights on Nova Scotia
Molnar has her sights set on Cape Breton. But it has nothing to do with the safety and security of the Atlantic bubble.
She came across a website called Cape Breton if Donald Trump Wins.
Rob Calabrese created a website called Cape Breton if Donald Trump Wins. (Eric Woolliscroft/CBC)
It was a way to put Cape Breton on the map and attract immigrants to a part of Nova Scotia that has long suffered from population decline.
But with another election on the horizon, Calabrese said website traffic has been up in the past few months.
“It’s mostly the descent of civility and the erosion of community — I’m paraphrasing a lot of different emails — but it’s mostly a sense of they don’t feel they’re headed in a good direction,” he said.
Seeking political asylum
Molnar has done her research to find out whether she qualifies for immigration. Unfortunately, she doesn’t.
Her only option is to get herself to the border — a six-hour drive from her home in Connecticut — and try to claim political asylum.
“I literally will cry at the border and beg at the border and hope that they would understand what’s going on here and why the urgency is so real to me,” she said.
“And why I can’t possibly live another four years under these conditions.”
Cohen, who has been an immigration lawyer for more than 35 years, said it’s a “long shot” that an American citizen would qualify for refugee status in Canada.
Lee Cohen, a Halifax-based immigration lawyer, says a future where Americans can claim political asylum in Canada is not out of the realm of possibility. (Eric Woolliscroft/CBC)
He said there are some unique scenarios where it might be possible, especially for Black and Indigenous Americans who have a “justifiable, subjective fear” of continuing to live in the U.S.
“If Trump gets re-elected, and if the things people fear become real, Americans claiming political asylum in Canada, as astonishing an idea as that is, becomes a more realistic scenario,” he said.
Cohen said there’s a sense that regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s election, the damage has been done and it will take years to walk it back.
Molnar agrees. She’ll likely stay in the U.S. if Joe Biden is elected president, and hopes things will slowly return to the way they used to be.
“But if things continue, then I’ll still be considering leaving no matter who the president is,” she said.
MONTREAL – Quebec’s ombudsperson is warning that public services are becoming “dehumanized” in the province amid a rise in demand for them.
Marc-André Dowd released his annual report today, which highlights several examples of people receiving inadequate care across the health network in the 12 months leading to March 31.
One dying man who lived alone was denied help cleaning his cat’s litter box by his local health clinic, a service Dowd says should have been given for “humanitarian reasons.”
Dowd also describes staff at a long-term care home feeding residents “mechanically” and talking among each other — despite health ministry guidelines directing staff to maintain eye contact with residents.
The ombudsperson says his office received a record number of problems to investigate across the province’s public services — 24,867 compared with 22,053 last year.
He says his office investigated 13,358 cases between April 2023 and March of this year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Canada next week after a planned trip in July was cancelled amid political turmoil in France.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in a statement today that Macron will be in Canada Wednesday and Thursday after the leaders attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
Trudeau will welcome Macron in Ottawa on Wednesday, where they are expected to discuss collaboration on geopolitical issues including their ongoing support for Ukraine.
They are also expected to discuss ways to strengthen the response to emerging threats, such as disinformation.
In Montreal, Trudeau intends to show off the city’s artificial intelligence sector, while both countries reaffirm their commitment to work with counterparts on responsible use of AI.
The leaders will also discuss promoting the French language ahead of the Francophonie summit being held in France next month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Health Canada has authorized Novavax’s updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus.
The protein-based vaccine, called Nuvaxovid, has been reformulated to target the JN.1 subvariant of Omicron.
It will replace the previous version of the vaccine, which targeted the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron.
Health Canada recently asked provinces and territories to get rid of their older COVID-19 vaccines to ensure the most current vaccine will be used during this fall’s respiratory virus season.
Earlier this week, Health Canada approved Moderna’s updated mRNA COVID vaccine.
It is still reviewing Pfizer’s updated mRNA vaccine, with a decision expected soon.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version erroneously described the Novavax vaccine as an mRNA shot.
