Naheed nenshi, Calgary's ebullient mayor, says that when he was elected in 2010—becoming the first Muslim to lead a large North American city—only the foreign media brought up his religion. The local press never mentioned it. That changed when he ran for re-election for a third term in 2017. People "suddenly started talking about race and religion", sometimes abusively, online. Although his rivals avoided bigotry, it encouraged formerly non-voting racists to turn up at the polls. He still won. Four years ago, when Justin Trudeau was elected, "Canada was bucking the trend," says Mr Nenshi. Now it is learning that "we're not immune at all" to the political maladies of the age.
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