Shock, sadness and surprise – just some of the feelings expressed around the world after Donald Trump was elected as the 45th president of the United States in a stunning upset on Tuesday.
The Royal City was no exception.
New Westminster NDP MLA Judy Darcy, while shocked by the results, views Trump’s victory as a lesson for politicians on this side of the border.
“People were voicing their feelings of being left out in the corridors of power and feeling their government was out of touch with what affects them in their daily lives,” she said, adding it’s a message she also hears in her own riding. “I think the key lesson is you need to stay grounded, you need to listen to the people you are honoured to represent and you need to stay in touch with them every day.”
Darcy also suggested the message that Trump rode to victory is also one the provincial government needs to heed. As for whether a Trump-like movement could rise here, the MLA contends Canada has different values than the U.S.
New Westminster-Burnaby MP Peter Julian said he too was shocked by the outcome, but noted the lower voter turnout. He suggested this is what happens when minorities, younger people and the poor don’t vote.
He also views the results as a rallying cry to stand up with women, minorities and immigrants, adding everyone has to work harder to make sure folks don’t feel excluded.
“I take it as a call for more solidarity and working together, not less,” Julian said. “And we have to redouble our efforts to build a gentler, kinder world.”
Former New Westminster Conservative MP Paul Forseth was surprised at Trump’s win given the professional polling done in the lead-up to the election.
“We need to take a lesson – listen closely to everybody, not just those that you’re comfortable with,” he said. “I was very surprised, but it’s a wait and see. I don’t think the sky is going to fall.”
Forseth, who didn’t support Trump’s bid for president, said it remains to be seen what type of leader he will be.
“It’s hard to tell. I think character means a lot. Generally, people are somewhat consistent in their character so we look at a lifetime history. Is a person likely to change? I believe people can change but largely in these things, it’s who you manage to get around you, who is your support team? What is the whole team going to look like?” he said. “We will be carefully looking at cabinet picks.”
Meanwhile, Kelly Slade-Kerr, acting chair of the New Westminster school board, said the president-elect’s victory makes it hard not to lose faith in humanity.
“The hardest part was hearing my 13-year-old-daughter lament this morning that Hillary’s gender cost her the election. I told her that strong young women like her will ensure that the world has a female U.S. president one day – it just won’t be the 45th president,” she said in an email to the Record.
School trustee and Green Party candidate Jonina Campbell echoed Darcy’s and Forseth’s sentiments about local politicians having a pulse on what’s going on in their communities.
She said her children woke up Wednesday morning feeling “very disappointed.”
“(There were) questions around what this means for Canada, questions around what this means for the United States, so we just answered that we’re going to continue to be true to our values.
“I think it speaks to what they’ve been learning in school, which is bullying is wrong, you treat people fairly and we have an inclusive society. They just hear him, and they know that he represents everything that we don’t believe in,” Campbell said.
