The American claim to ‘exceptionalism’ and its history of support for democracy around the world has been delivered a severe blow.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on January 11, 2021.

OTTAWA—Whether or not Donald Trump remains in office for the next two weeks is hardly the point.

His ugly legacy has unleashed a venom in America that will be very difficult to suppress.

The world has watched in horror as domestic terrorists stormed the capital, wreaking havoc and death on the ultimate symbols of American democracy.

We have witnessed extremists becoming so mainstream that one of them, Georgian Marjorie Taylor Greene, is now sitting in the House of Representatives.

The American claim to “exceptionalism” and its history of support for democracy around the world has been delivered a severe blow.

Lindsey Graham’s ridiculous response to the Washington attack was to claim equivalency between the attackers and Black Lives Matter activists who took to the streets to protest the death of multiple Black citizens at the hands of the police.

Does anyone truly believe that if the same group of Washington attackers had been racial minorities, there would have been so few arrests?

Graham’s claim that Democrats needed to call out protesters of police brutality at the same time as he was criticizing the terrorists simply reinforced the fact that the day Donald Trump leaves office will not be the end of this reckoning in America.

The CBC revisited footage from the summer protest at the Lincoln Memorial, where row upon row of riot police were lined up to truncheon protesters. That footage was compared to the police treatment of emboldened white supremacists and conspiracy theorists who considered the attack a victory for their cause.

Some television outlets carried footage of those storming the capital taking selfies with police guarding the gates. And the Confederate flag was carried into the Senate by those who paraded their hatred right onto the floor of the Senate.

At the same time as the anarchists were outside of the Senate, chief representatives inside were speaking about the “incredible” four years of Trump rule and some of them were still trying as of last week to claim the election was stolen.

The attack on the Senate was greeted with glee by the president, who tweeted his love for the protesters.

At the same time as the state of Georgia elected its first Black Senator and its first Jewish Senator, most people are not talking about how those elections made history.

Instead, we are witnessing a country that is still deeply divided on racial grounds, and whose leadership actually promotes the supremacy of one race over another.

Trump illustrated his true colours more than three years ago, when white supremacists stormed Charlottesville and killed an innocent bystander while shouting slurs against Jews and minorities.

Trump was the first to lay out this false equivalency when he tried to claim that there were “very fine people on both sides” of the Charlottesville protest.

And multiple members of the Senate still cling to the view that there is validity in the absurdly false claims of election interference.

Notwithstanding these shocking perspectives, even in the consequential Georgia Senate runoffs, the state was almost evenly split on those who supported Trump’s choice and those who opposed.

Largely due to the incredible organizational work of Stacey Abrams and Fair Fight Action to oppose voter suppression, the Democrats were able to pull off razor-thin victories in both instances, thus securing the balance of power in the Senate. That vote paves the way forward for president-elect Joe Biden and vice-president-elect Kamala Harris to receive support in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

But they still have to face the job of uniting a country where almost half of the population oppose their vision.

All those who chose Trump were not voting based on his racial record. But the fact that they could overlook it and cast their ballot for him in such large numbers, is truly frightening.

From misogyny to racism, from his affinity for dictators versus democrats, the president still managed to garner the support of almost 75 million voting Americans, the largest number in the history of the country to vote for a Republican candidate.

Even when the president vacates the office, whether of his own accord or not, his leadership scars will endure long past his departure.

The suspension of Trump’s Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts are not enough to stem the flood of hatred that has been unleashed during his presidency.

Pre-Trump, racists were largely in the shadows. But his sick vision for America has enlisted millions of followers.

This past week has only emboldened them.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

The decision of Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer to keep Michael Cooper in his caucus will cost him dearly.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on June 10, 2019.

OTTAWA—In politics, and in life, we are judged by the company we keep.

The decision of Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer to keep Michael Cooper in his caucus will cost him dearly.

Scheer says the case is closed because Cooper apologized and was removed from the House Justice Committee.

But in an inexplicable display of bad judgment, Scheer kept Cooper on as the deputy justice critic in the House of Commons.

That kind of responsibility is usually conferred on a Member of Parliament when the leader believes he or she has the makings of a minister.

Cooper’s potential ministerial aspirations should serve as a red flag to thousands of visible minority Canadians who wonder about the Conservatives’ real commitment to diversity.

The intention of a shadow cabinet is to showcase those who might eventually hold ministerial positions if the official opposition forms the government.

By keeping Cooper as deputy critic, Scheer sends the wrong signal.

Cooper’s recent public meltdown on the House Justice Committee made it painfully clear that he possesses neither the temperament nor the judgment to be considered ministerial material.

His posted apology read as though it had been written while he was under house arrest. One wonders whether Cooper actually believed his own words.

His attack was not just an off-the-cuff retort to an inflammatory committee witness. The Alberta MP came to the committee loaded for bear.

Cooper knew the question of alt-right internet commentators would likely be the subject of discussion for a parliamentary committee review of online hate crimes.

He calculated and accepted the risk when he deliberately highlighted a manifesto from a hate-motivated maniac who had one wish—to murder Muslims.

Keeping Cooper in caucus can only damage the leader.

Only two weeks ago, in launching his immigration policy, Scheer claimed that he would show the door to any member of his party who put one religion ahead of another.

His tough words left no room for interpretation: “I would like to be absolutely crystal clear. There is absolutely no room in a peaceful and free country like Canada for intolerance, racism, and extremism of any kind … if there’s anyone here who disagrees with that, you’re not welcome here. There’s the door.”

Yet when he had clear evidence of intolerance with Cooper’s parliamentary attack on a Muslim leader from his own home province, Scheer refused to act.

What Faisal Khan Suri, the president of the Alberta Muslim Public Affairs Council, said to provoke the outlash was all provable.

When speaking of the Québec City Muslim murder rampage, Suri said “The evidence from Bissonette’s computer showed he repeatedly sought content about anti-immigrant, alt-right and conservative commentators, mass murderers, U.S. President Donald Trump, and about Muslims, immigrants living in Quebec.”

Cooper disagreed; using the New Zealand-banned manifesto to buttress his assessment that murderous incitement comes primarily from communists, not conservatives.

His claim was reminiscent of United States President Donald Trump’s reaction to the racist march of pro-Nazi torchbearers, in Charlottesville, North Carolina. Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides.”

In Cooper’s apology, he said he was sorry because he “quoted the words of a white supremacist anti-Muslim mass murderer in an ill-advised attempt to demonstrate that such acts are not linked to conservatism.”

Using the words of a mass murderer to support his viewpoint shows incredibly bad judgment. But the usage also needs to be subjected to a reality check. On the Internet, it is mostly the conservative alt right promoting interracial hate.

There aren’t too many communists speaking out, but there certainly are huge numbers of yellow-vested, Nazi-loving groups fomenting racism.

The fact that Cooper believes the problem is caused by communists makes one wonder how he could ever be considered for any position of authority in the justice field, if Scheer were to win the election.

Likewise, Scheer abandoned his promise to show the door to anyone promoting religious hate, when he claimed it was up to the caucus, not him, to fire Cooper.

Scheer says that as leader, he has no authority over membership in caucus.

But the leader is required by election law to approve the nomination of every single Conservative candidate. Having enlisted Cooper in the first place, he has every right to fire him with the same alacrity.

If Scheer does not believe Cooper committed a firing offence, he should say so.

Otherwise, he needs to revisit his “show the door” promise.

An attack on a Muslim witness has no place in Parliament.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.