Along with some world leaders, the US’s neighbors to the north have been watching the American elections with alarm, my colleague Ashifa Kassam reports from Toronto. The leader of Canada’s progressive party has labeled Donald Trump “a fascist”, and faulted prime minister Justin Trudeau for not condemning the Republican.  “Donald Trump is a fascist,” Tom Mulcair said at an event last week. “Let’s not kid ourselves, let’s not beat around the bush.”  He pointed to Trump’s proposals to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country and build a wall along the Mexican border as examples of how the leader was appealing to what he called “the lowest feelings in human nature”. The remarks surfaced this week after the NDP sent a videoclip to media.  Mulcair also attacked Trudeau’s reticence to speak frankly about Trump. “I will not hesitate to point out the fact that Mr Trudeau just shrugs his shoulders when he’s asked about Donald Trump and says, ‘Oh the relationship between Canada and the United States goes beyond any two individuals,’” he said.  “I’m sorry, if a fascist becomes president of the United States, I want to be on record as having opposed it long before that election.”  Trudeau, dubbed the anti-Trump by some in the US media, has shied away from offering his views on the possibility of Trump at the helm of Canada’s largest trading partner in recent months. “I’m not going to pick a fight with Donald Trump right now. I’m not going to support him either, obviously,” he said at a forum in early March.  Trudeau’s hesitation was later probed in an interview with the CBC. “I respect the American electoral process,” he demurred. “I have faith in what [Abraham] Lincoln referred to as ‘the better angels of American nature’, and I am looking forward to who I am going to work with after 4 November.”  Many have cautioned Trudeau to stay quiet. “Trudeau, as prime minister, should refrain from commenting on candidates in US presidential elections,” said Derek Burney, a former Canadian ambassador to the United States. “He will deal with whomever the electorate chooses.”  The question of how to engage with Trump is one leaders around the world are wrestling with, said said Brett Bruen, a former director of global engagement at the White House. He suggested actions rather than direct confrontation, such as Trudeau’s greeting of Syrian refugees at the airport, as an example. “That sends a very clear message but does not entangle him in a very dirty campaign in the US,” said Bruen.  You can read Ashifa’s full piece here, and watch Mulcair’s remarks below.  Related: Canadian party leader calls Donald Trump a 'fascist'
Trump is in Washington DC to meet with Republican party leaders, while a crowd of Bernie Sanders supporters came to a Clinton rally in New York