We have reached rock bottom. Is it because Donald Trump assured the public on television, in response to rival Marco Rubio’s reference to the size of his … hands, that he had a sizable manhood? Is it, roughly, because he alluded to the fact that he was the “real deal,” and that no one should worry about him or the future of America as reported by, among others, the Belgian “Le Vif”?
The fact remains that after seven additional victories on March 1 in his frantic race for the Republican nomination, we read in Courier International that “distraught Americans” are “rushing en masse to Google,” to find out more about emigration, particularly to Canada. A similar spike occurred in 2004 when George W. Bush was re-elected … Just to give you an idea.
“By midnight, the query rose 1,150 percent,” according to the website Mashable, “before settling back down somewhere around the 500 percent mark on the day.” This is because “the ‘Trump train’ just roared through Super Tuesday and a handful of Americans want off.” A large portion of the searches seemed to originate in Massachusetts, a state that is relatively close to the Quebec border, and where Donald Trump won a landslide victory with 49 percent of the vote.
Trump is definitely the best advertisement for immigration to Trudeau Jr.’s country. [The newspaper] Le Dauphine Libere confirms that since the beginning of February, the search “Move to Canada” has literally exploded on Google. “Make America Move,” was the headline of a New York Daily News article, inlaid on the background of a U.S. passport being burnt to ashes, and above a “Guide to Fleeing Trump’s America.”
In the same vein, the island of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia has become famous, with a dedicated webpage, for offering asylum to U.S. citizens in the event of a Trump victory. Officials in charge of tourism have hired three additional employees to meet the new demand, and CNN sent a team onsite to do a report that was aired Wednesday evening. “It’s wonderful publicity for an island that is losing inhabitants at an unbelievable speed,” explains Citizenpost in its analysis of the operation. “The island of 135,000 inhabitants is losing around 1,000 people a year. What initially was meant to be a joke or attract media attention grew into something very serious upon the interest shown by many U.S. Internet users. In the FAQ page of the website, the host officially answers questions such as: ‘Is this true?’ — ‘Yes’; ‘Is this a joke?’ — ‘No’; and ‘How can I move to Canada?’ et cetera.”
The website also has links to find out more about the steps needed to apply for Canadian citizenship, how to find accommodations, information on schools, and how to settle in this huge country. “We received 5,000 specific requests from the U.S. relating to Canadian immigration, the job market and real estate,” said Cape Breton tourism chief Mary Tulle.
The website of the radio station 98.5 FM also states that “a few messages on Twitter mention people who are saying that if Donald Trump becomes president, they would move to Canada.” And “some Canadians are also saying they are ready to welcome them.” According to [newspaper] Les Dernieres Nouvelles d’Alsace, the Toronto municipal Councillor Norm Kelly encouraged his U.S. followers to fill out the Canadian immigration form. As of today’s date, his message has been retweeted over 48,000 times.
However, Radio Canada states in reference to this “promised land” that, “following Super Tuesday, it was reported in the media that the website ‘Immigration, Refugees and Canadian Citizenship’ had encountered technical difficulties.” Was the website overwhelmed by the number of Americans frightened by the prospect of Donald Trump’s election? Not at all. “This was an internal issue.” Who knows …
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