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.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves for his first shutout of the season and 32nd overall, helping the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Monday night.
Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist and Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala also scored. The Kings have won two of their last three.
Juuse Saros made 24 saves for the Predators. They are 1-2-1 in their last four.
Kopitar opened the scoring with 6:36 remaining in the opening period. Saros denied the Kings captain’s first shot, but Kopitar collected the rebound below the goal line and banked it off the netminder’s skate.
Fiala, a former Predator, made it 2-0 35 seconds into the third.
The Kings held Nashville to just three third-period shots on goal, the first coming with 3:55 remaining and Saros pulled for an extra attacker.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Monday:
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DEVILS 3 OILERS 0
EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his NHL career, helping the New Jersey Devils close their western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored. The Devils improved to 8-5-2. They have won three of their last four after a four-game skid.
Calvin Pickard made 13 saves for Edmonton. The Oilers had won two straight.
