Before entering politics, Conservative MP and party leadership candidate Kellie Leitch was a surgeon and professor at the University of Western Ontario. I spent some of the most formative years of my life as a medical student at Western where I studied for Leitch’s exams and often passed her in the hallways.

Leitch’s email following the U.S. presidential election hit me hard. At 3 a.m., just hours after TV networks declared Donald Trump President-elect, Leitch doubled down on his racist and xenophobic campaign in an email to her supporters.

“It’s an exciting message and one that we need delivered in Canada as well,” she declared regarding Trump’s victory. “It’s the message I’m bringing with my campaign to be the next Prime Minister of Canada ... It’s why I’m the only candidate who will ensure that every visitor, immigrant, and refugee will be screened for Canadian values.”

As her former student, now a physician in Toronto, who also happens to be Muslim, this comes as a deeply personal betrayal.

My medical school classmates were a remarkably diverse collection of individuals. We studied, struggled, and celebrated together. Recalling those days, I wonder if Leitch saw us the same way we saw each other. Some of us were immigrants, others racialized and many spoke accented English. All of us have since embarked on careers of service and compassion.

Surveying the class as she lectured, did she think we all belonged? Did she think we shared her values, presumably the Canadian ones she has in mind? What does her campaign mean for those who think we don’t have a place in Canada?

Lest we dismiss her dog-whistle politics as a fringe problem, Trump’s “exciting message” that “we need delivered in Canada” has already unleashed a torrent of hate and intimidation.

At the University of Michigan, a “Crime Alert” was issued after a student was told to remove her hijab or be set on fire. In Los Angeles, a teacher taunted his Latino students, telling them their parents were going to be deported. In Indiana, a black women was told “Trump is going to deport you back to Africa.”

With many other incidents being reported, it’s amazing that a little more than a week has passed since Trump’s victory and Leitch’s endorsement.

Instead of using her medical instincts to heal wounds, Leitch’s endorsement of Trump and co-option of his language is threatening to inflict fresh trauma.

I most recently crossed paths with Leitch a year ago. It was at an awards gala celebrating the achievements of Muslim Canadians. I was shocked and puzzled to see her amongst the guests. During the federal election just months before, she had proposed a “Barbaric Cultural Practices tip-line.” The tip-line was widely recognized as a tactic to inflame anti-Muslim sentiment and drive anxious voters to the Conservatives. Leitch was its public face and a designated advocate.

Though I wasn’t ready to forgive her, despite a post-campaign apology, I was open to the signal she was sending by attending the awards gala. I was ready to see what she would do next. She didn’t take long to demonstrate the insincerity of her apology.

It’s been disturbing how little her past actions have dampened support for her in mainstream Canadian politics. Her campaign is managed by Nick Kouvalis, the architect of John Tory and Rob Ford’s mayoral campaigns in Toronto. With the blessing of his boss, Andy Pringle, the chair of Toronto Police Board, was actively fundraising for Leitch. Pringle has since distanced himself from the campaign. Leitch has even received a donation from Jerry Dias, a prominent leader in the union movement (though Dias has since repudiated his support for her).

Leitch’s approach is working. According to a recent Mainstreet Poll, she is leading the race for Conservative leader.

Racism is not new to Canada, and neither is the xenophobic politics of Leitch. What makes her chosen politics so unsettling, is that they come in spite of her relationships with those who will suffer its consequences.

Usually, professors and teachers become invested in the success of their students. For idealists among us, we hope the best political leaders do the same for their country. Leitch has made the choice to do neither.

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If Leitch’s “Trumped” up rhetoric succeeds, we will all lose.

Danyaal Raza is a family physician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and an assistant professor at the University of Toronto.

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