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What Justin Trudeau did was stupid. It was stupid in 2001 and it’s stupid now. At the same time, he’s been a powerful force for human rights during his political career. This is complex and confusing because people are complex and confusing. And like everyone, the prime minister deserves to be judged on the totality of his record. The voters will decide that next month.

What is undeniable, though, is that this conversation is happening against the backdrop of something dark, something dangerous and something different in Canada.

Hate crimes are way up (47 per cent increase in Canada between 2016 and 2017), incidents of divisive language are becoming more common online and in line at the Tim Hortons, and those aspiring to political leadership are either silent or mouthing platitudes to rationalize it all. This should worry us all as Canadians.

I’ve been reflecting a lot on my own experience. I grew up in Calgary. As I’ve often said, my family didn’t have a lot of money, but we made up for it in opportunity. I graduated from excellent public schools, haunted the public library, learned to swim — sort of — in a public pool. I never once felt there was any job or any career option closed to me because of the colour of my skin or because of my faith.

Of course, I had racist things happen to me. Some were big, some were small. Some hurt, some were easy to shrug off. But that’s the deal for everyone who’s part of a minority, Yes, we know that the security guard in the store will pay a little more attention to us when we walk through, that we’ll always face extra questions when we get a new job, that people visibly exhale when they hear us speak with a “normal” Canadian accent. And we have jokes. SO many jokes. Go back to where I came from, you say? But houses are so expensive in Toronto now!