It’s two days until Donald Trump’s inauguration, and while the US is preparing to welcome in their 45th president, many are also planning on marching against him; including Yellowknife resident Ben Webber.
Related: America: Yellowknife has plenty of room – reactions to Trump win
The 60-year-old government worker is originally from Texas, but has been a Canadian citizen for 30 years.
Tomorrow morning, he plans to fly to Austin, Texas to join family members participating in the Women’s March on Austin.
It’s one of 50 marches taking place in every state capital to “send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights” according to their website, something many have claimed Trump does not respect.
It’s a message Webber stands behind.
“I still have family in the States. I do think it’s a very important issue for the entire world,” Webber told Moose FM.
“It’s a disconcerting development for a candidate of that character to be moving in to the most powerful position presumably in the world.”
The march is a family affair for Webber. He’ll join his two brothers marching in Austin, while his sister is traveling to Washington for the march there.
He recalls messaging back and forth with family members in the states on election night.
“(They) were all just horrified of what was occurring, and are now quite embarrassed in their country that there’s someone who has been described as a buffoon in the highest office in the land,” he said.
“I could not believe it; I did not believe that could possibly happen in the United States.”
Important to make voices heard
With Trump’s approval rating at a historically low 44 per cent before taking office, Webber, who still has US citizenship, says it’s important for Americans like him to make their discontent with the incoming president known.
“It’s important to have as large a voice raised in opposition to what Donald Trump is doing… so that those who do have the potential for balancing out the power and potentially reducing the influence of the president will see that there is a very strong, popular discontent with Donald Trump,” he said.
“He is going to be president, I’m not suggesting anything in any way is going to change that, but it may give more confidence to the people who are in elected offices to oppose him.”
