"Well, if the elections don't turn out, I always have Canada as a backup plan," a young, Millennial college student laughs. The group around them laugh in agreement.
Canada: the country we mock and ignore until Trump hits the polls.
Canada: a bitterly cold country with a warm-hearted Prime Minister.
Canada: a backup plan.
News Flash: Canada doesn't want you.
Sure, the attractive allure of a place almost American is delightful. They speak similar English, their food is Western and convenient, and the cultural barrier is almost nonexistent. I, myself, have many Canadian friends and the only thing we can't seem to agree on is geographical locations of states and regions. But even so, Canada doesn't want or need a mass exodus of Americans to frantically rush to their boarders.
What Americans don't seem to understand about the fear of a dictator-like leader who is a vocal racist, misogynist, and nationalist is that they already have the power to stop one from rising to power. It's called a vote.
Now, hold up. I know what's coming.
"But Katherine, the voting polls are rigged and my vote would be trashed anyway. It's The Man who really makes the choices."
In some instances, yes. Lobbyists walk up in the faces of powerful politicians with briefcases fat with cash. And yes, many times these politicians take the money for cheapt, instant gratifications. But that doesn't nix the power of your vote.
If your vote wasn't important, people wouldn't have fought for their right to vote just decades before.
Women and people of color should know there was a time in their histories when they weren't even considered human beings by law. A vote gave them more than a ballot. It gave them the right to be known and treated like a human, not like property. These minorities lived, fought, and actually died for this right, so why has our generation gone slack on exercising that right?
Even if we had a situation like Bush v. Gore in the 2000 Florida Vote Recount, America's eyes watched and saw the power of the vote be bought. They saw Gore's win and Bush's demand for recount which somehow gave him a whopping 537 votes. That's an awfully wide margin of error. And many Americans thought this as well.
So even if somehow your vote is bought or trashed in favor of a less-desirable candidate there are people out there who are checking the facts, running the numbers, and reporting it when something doesn't add up.
So what have you got to lose? Not a thing.
Another point to make about the Canadian Exodus, as I'll call it, is that it's a dream that only rich, white, and privileged people can entertain. If a dictator-like leader were to be elected the poor, underprivileged and disenfranchised minorities would be stuck. They couldn't afford a plane ticket or road trip across state because of a vote. Their odds of escaping to a more peaceful country is slim. And that group of people would be the ones hurt the most by a hateful leader.
So why are the people who have it best trying to leave those stuck with the worst?
Simple: they aren't thinking.
Many people don't realize what an election means for the least of us. Nobody considers how it'll impact welfare and public services and facilities. Infrastructure and public institutions seldom cross the mind of the privileged voter. And so they can laugh and dream of a Canadian cottage with state-sponsored health care and affordable higher education.
But for me and all the other poor minorities out there? We're stranded in a political war zone.
So this voting season, before you pack your backs for Toronto Air's next flight out, I ask you to do a few things.
Vote responsibly, act respectfully, speak thoughtfully, and think critically because Canada doesn't want you, but America needs you.
