Warren Kinsella, award-winning author and journalist, visited the University of Alberta Faculty of Law on March 14 to speak at 27th annual Leitch Lecture, established in honour of C. Mervin Leitch, QC, who died in 1990.
Each year, the Leitch Lecture attracts eminent speakers - such as the late former premier of Alberta Peter Lougheed, Madam Justice Rosalie Abella of the Supreme Court of Canada and most recently, Nik Nanos, one of Canada's leading pollsters - to address the communities at the University of Calgary and University of Alberta Faculties of Law on a topic of public importance.
Many students, Faculty, alumni, legal practitioners and members of the Leitch family attended the event, established to reflect the significant contributions Leitch made while serving his fellow Albertans.
This year, Kinsella spoke about "The rise in nativism and racism in the Trump and Brexit era - and how civil society should respond," and highlighted the growing far-right movement emerging in a number of countries, including Canada.
"Do we live in dark times? We live in dangerous times; the beast is awake and the beast is roaming the land," said Kinsella.
During his lecture, Kinsella spoke on three issues: the effect of the Trump and Brexit era on Canadian society; the rise of the far-right movement in the United States and beyond; and, what society should do moving forward to stop the spread of a racist narrative.
First, Kinsella spoke to the crowd about the rise of extremist groups and hate speech in Canada by highlighting a number of incidents, including multiple cases of racist graffiti spray-painted on religious institutions in Ottawa last year.
Later, he spoke about how political conservatives, like President Trump, surged in popularity to win the U.S presidential election by relying on the power of values and emotion to win votes, rather than the political issues that often control a progressive narrative, such as health care and the environment.
Kinsella added that during the presidential election, progressive parties and the mainstream media underestimated both the effectiveness of the conservative narrative and the growing far-right movement.
"We allowed ourselves to be lulled into a sense of complacency, leaving Trump and the Brexits to cheerfully sail up the middle to register a win," said Kinsella.
He finished his presentation by offering a list of ten tools - including grassroots advocacy and embracing diversity - to curb the rise of hate and racism in the United States and in Canada.
"Change will not come if you wait for some other person or some other time," said Kinsella.