"It can't happen here" is a dangerous belief to have. It leads to complacency. Up here in Canada, we haven't been swept up by the wave of right-wing populism that led to Brexit, Trump's victory and the rise in popularity of several European far-right parties. We do have some alt-right people and hate groups, and at least a few hate crimes have been reported in the wake of Trump's election, but it's nothing that can't be found in any other country.

I don't think the far right has an actual path to power in the foreseeable future, but I was blindsided by both Brexit and Trump's election, so clearly I'm not a very good prognosticator. The closest we have to a far-right party is Alberta's populist Wildrose Party, but it's confined to one province, and it got only 24% of the vote (and 22/87 seats) in the 2015 elections. Some Quebec separatists have far-right ties, but they're a fringe of the wider (and steadily declining) separatist movement.

I really don't want to grow overconfident... but it seems to me that Canada should be okay. I cling to the hope that the current far-right trend in other countries will peter out before the next federal election, which is still years away.

Any thoughts?