“I got this email back, and it said, ‘As you’re probably aware, there’s been a lot going on in Saskatchewan over the past few months and we’ve been waiting for a directive,'” Remenda Swanson told The Canadian Press in an interview this week. She graduated from the high school in 1972 and now lives in Edmonton.
“It said, ‘We wish to thank you for your gracious offer. However, at this time, we are to follow the minister of education’s new mandate and must decline.'”
The author felt as if someone had kicked her in the gut, she said.
“So what’s the mandate? My book and me are banned?" she said.
There’s definitely influence. I’d say that American conservatives contribute to framing the boundaries of Canadian conservatism. There are also broad patterns. The US elects Bush, then Canada elects Harper; then Obama, Trudeau. Conservatives certainly tried to run with some of Trump’s rhetoric but it wasn’t palatable to Canadians. There’s been a big push of anti-immigration rhetoric in Canada. It’s something that at least makes sense in the US (it’s understandable, not justifiable) but is pretty absurd here. I don’t think you could call it, like, a natural law of Canadian politics though.
Neither homophobia or conservatism are imported though. This also isn’t representative of Canada generally. Only like 3% of Canadians live in Saskatchewan. In most places, this would be extremely uncool.