“Canadians Rallying Against Trump” aims to help defeat Trump in U.S. election
The organization believes Canadians “can’t sit idle”
Glyn Lewis, a Canadian citizen living in Vancouver, has co-founded a volunteer group called Canadians Rallying Against Trump. The aim of the group is to mobilize Canadians towards contributing to the defeat of Donald Trump in the upcoming U.S. election.
“Donald Trump poses a serious threat to our world,” Glyn Lewis, CRAT co-founder, said in a press release.
CRAT is a group composed entirely of Canadians who are deeply concerned about the prospect of a Trump presidency, and are therefore volunteering with the Clinton campaign in the United States.
“We are opposed to Donald Trump being president of the United States because so far we’ve seen that he is pretty unstable,” says Ashley Fehr, Media Spokesperson for Canadians Rallying Against Trump.
“We can’t really trust that he won’t just lash out at other world leaders. We are opposed to the hatred he spews. We are opposed to the misogyny and racism that he has so far put out into the world and we just don’t want to see that as our neighboring world leader.”
Canadians Rallying Against Trump connects Canadian volunteers to the Hillary Clinton campaign. Some members are heading down to key battleground states to help reach out to voters while other members will make phone calls and utilize online tools.
“Someone as unstable as Donald Trump should not have 1,500 active nuclear missiles at his fingertips. Someone who thinks global warming is ‘a hoax’ should not be negotiating climate change agreements,” Lewis said in a press release. “As good neighbors, and global citizens, we can’t sit idle. Not when the election is this close.”
Despite being unable to vote in the American election, the members of CRAT still hope to influence their neighbors to the south to vote against Trump.
“I don’t think it’s interfering,” says Fehr. “Legally, we are allowed to go and volunteer our time on their elections. We can’t financially get involved, so we can’t donate to the campaign—Hillary’s campaign or anyone’s campaign—and we also can’t fundraise to send volunteers down to the States to help with travel costs, but we can go as volunteers.”
According to the Federal Election Commission, it is legal for “foreign nationals” to volunteer with U.S. Presidential campaigns, but they cannot contribute financially.
“We’re asking Canadians who want to help stop Donald Trump to reach out to us through our Facebook page. We’ll then help them get involved,” said Lewis, in a press release.
Since it’s legal for Canadians to volunteer their time with any U.S. political campaign, Glyn Lewis and Ashley Fehr are encouraging their fellow citizens to get involved with Canadians Rallying Against Trump to prevent him from winning the presidential election.
“We do want to make sure people know that they can join us, so they can sign up on [our website] and we will connect them directly with the Clinton campaign and get people slotted places,” says Fehr.
Canadians Rallying Against Trump is not the only organization that intends to help prevent the Republican nominee from becoming President of the United States. On Oct. 5, an anti-Trump rally was held in Vancouver to encourage Americans living in the area to vote against Donald Trump.A dancing Trump with a large paper mache head was seen on the back of a truck just outside of the yet-to-be-finished Trump building. Joseph Huff-Hanonm organized the event with the activist group Avaaz, an American civic organization that promotes global activism on various political issues.
