Protests in Canada shut down US Consulate in Toronto and maybe Embassy in Ottawa

Just came across these two news items:

Hundreds protest at US Consulate in Toronto

https://www.google.ca/amp/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.3957879?client=safari

US State Department warns Americans ahead of noon protests at embassy in Ottawa

https://www.google.ca/amp/ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/demonstrators-to-form-human-chain-at-u-s-embassy-in-ottawa-to-protest-trumps-travel-ban/amp?client=safari

Are there similar protests in other countries?

Seems rather silly; it’s not local consuls or ambassadors who are responsible for the dumb things US presidents do. And I include all presidents since at least Nixon.

No, but it also seems unreasonable to expect people to travel to DC to protest. The embassy and consulates represent the US in foreign countries, so that is the place to register disagreement.

Presumably they’ll send pictures to Trump to show him how many people are paying attention to him, which is the metric he cares about most.

“I get the biggest crowds of protesters! Obama never had that many!”

“I am very upset” is such a perfectly Canadian protest sign. :slight_smile:

I’m wary because for over a century protests in Middle Eastern countries outside consulates had a tendency to escalate, and in some instances lead to storming to teach those foreign rascals the depth of The People’s Feelings. A year ago protesters demonstrated outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy. And after a little while set it ablaze.
Ambassadorial staff are generally not ill-paid, but all this stuff must be very nerve-wracking.
I doubt if the USA would let Canadians in for the sole purpose of protesting US policy, but there are many gathering-places in Canada where they could mass.
Anyway, from the second link:

'Demonstrators in Ottawa will make the same demand on Monday, Thompson said.

They will also call on the Canadian government to “vehemently oppose Trump’s unconstitutional and blatantly bigoted policies,” and urge the U.S. government to uphold its commitment to refugee resettlement for individuals fleeing persecution and conflict, she said.’
I really don’t think it’s any business of non-Americans to protest something in America as ‘unconstitutional’: America’s Constitution — however ridiculous it may be — is solely the province of America. It is not for export; nor for the rest of us to decide how America wishes to interpret it from moment to moment.

From you linked article -

*Speakers urged the crowd to write letters to U.S. President Donald Trump, demanding the repeal of Friday’s executive order that bars citizens from Yemen, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Libya and Iran from entering the U.S.

They also said the U.S. should send its refugees to Canada and that protesters should consider privately sponsoring refugees.*

I’m in favor of sending the refugees from these 7 targeted countries to Canada.

And

I believe the Canadian protestors should take a refugee, or two, home with them.

Poutine For All, eh.

I’m also in favour of CSIS collecting data on American citizens, specifically those who have posted pro-Trump sentiments on social media.

This should then be shared with immigration Canada, so that these people can be barred entry to the country. They do not share Canadian values and morals, and I don’t think we should let them in. They are too dangerous.

Canada will welcome you.
-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Does Trudeau outrank you?

I would support measures to keep out those who do not hold our Canadian values of diversity, tolerance and acceptance. This, then would keep out Trump supporters, and other promoters of hatred, fear and divisiveness. Works for me.

And I don’t have to consult my authoritarian leader to hold this opinion. Amazing!

The Canadian economy must be in dire straights. Did you notice how many Canadian protesters could only afford one glove?

Does this mean that the French-Canadians can ban the Canadians from Canada, or just from the French-Canadian part?

I suppose you’re trying to be funny. But really, you should try not to comment on things if you clearly know very little about them.

Thanks very much in advance.

If you cant beat Trump, join him!!

Last I checked, freedom of speech was not just an American concept. They have the same rights to call something unconstitutional as we do. They have the same right to protest.

Trump has attacked the Muslims of the world. Of course they and the good people who support religious liberty are going to fight back. The most powerful country in the world is being used for a bigoted agenda.

What America does affects the rest of the world. You should be happy they’re only protesting. If this continues, ISIS may get their war with the West, and the other countries will be on their side, not ours.

“They tried to kill my Dad.”

It is quite possible to study the US Constitution outside the US. Certainly, the library of the Canadian law school I attended had a complete collection of US Supreme Court reports, and all kinds of secondary sources on the US Constitution. A number of students, including myself, did research the US Constitution.

That being said, however, I doubt that the vast majority of the Canadian protesters are constitutional scholars. Still, when our media over the last couple of days has been full of stories about how various US courts are striking down the ban based on its constitutionality, and various US politicians have been reported as saying that the ban is unconstitutional, it is natural that the protesters would pick up on that, and also call the ban unconstitutional.

No, it sends a public message. I’m sure the protesters know EXACTLY who is responsible and EXACTLY who will see news coverage of the demonstrations. .

It’s quite dismissive to refer to these demonstrations as “silly,” BTW. It really trivializes people’s passionate feelings. Call them ineffective or useless, if you must, but “silly” makes them sound childish and infantile, which they’re not.

As a non-American it would be absolutely insane for me to protest something goes against a Constitution that will never apply to me and for which I feel the greatest contempt. What business is it of mine to lecture Americans like a moron ? That is reserved for Americans. Nor do breaches of the Stalin Constitution ‘The Freest in the World’ affect me, I am neither communist nor a soviet citizen. I can pronounce something evil or stupid, to my own belief, and I can on general principles denounce the practices of the soviets, or nazis, or Americans: but I can’t tell any of them it matters what their governing principles are because they know these far better than I ever will. And those principles mean nothing to anyone else, because they don’t govern anyone else than themselves.
The British Constitution was a lot of rot, and the Brits were as pompous and boastful about it during the 18th and 19th centuries as is any American on his own now, but it was never pretended to apply to anywhere else, nor would they have cared for any foreigner telling them what it consisted of.

Exactly! (This is why I love this place. You guys get my sense of sarcasm)