As the U.S. Republican Party prepares to nominate its unlikely presidential candidate, Donald Trump, in Cleveland, several Canadian parliamentarians — including Conservative Party leadership hopeful Tony Clement — will be in the crowd for four days of speeches that will bring to a close the first stage of a presidential race described as everything from a ‘reality gong show‘ to a ‘dumpster fire.’

“Here ’till Friday,” Clement told iPolitics. “I have a lot of meetings here.”

Clement, who says he also attended the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in 2012, announced on July 12 he is running for the leadership of the Conservative Party but said he isn’t planning on soliciting insight for his own leadership campaign through his meetings in Cleveland.

“I wasn’t planning to,” he said. “Such a different environment in Canada.”

Five members of the Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group (IPG) are also heading down to Cleveland this week for the Republican National Convention, which will see delegates converge on the Quicken Loans Center to confirm controversial firebrand Trump as the party’s presidential nominee ahead of the November election.

Liberal MP Wayne Easter, co-chair of the IPG, Conservative Senator David Wells,‎ Conservative MP Phil McColeman, and NDP MP Charlie Angus will be at the convention, though not all will stay for Trump’s Thursday speech.

June Dewetering, the IPG’s senior analyst, will also accompany the group.

Trump’s campaign has been marked by divisive and inflammatory rhetoric attacking everyone from Muslims and Syrian refugees to Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly and US federal judge Gonzalo Curiel.

The controversy dogging the candidate means police in Cleveland are bracing for rowdy protests over the course of the week, with over half of downtown Cleveland under security restrictions for the convention.

“I’m a little worried about security I will admit,” Easter said, noting the rhetoric during the presidential nomination races so far “isn’t helpful.”

“Not for our security there — but I mean what’s just happening generally,” he said. “Every day there’s another incident.”

The United States is grappling with public outrage over police aggression, particularly against young black men, and is also divided on other social issues.

Most recently, the tensions over policing erupted after a string of fatal police shootings of young black men, as well as separate shootings targeting police officers in Dallas, Texas last week and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Sunday.