Canada and the other Western countries facing the waves of populism threatening to destroy their democracies need to understand that many people have been left behind over the past 30 or 40 years of social and economic changes. The responsibility is only in part on government. Businesses, corporations, large institutions and some individuals have benefited greatly by limiting social services and social protections in order to transfer as much wealth as possible to themselves, and abandoning those at the bottom. That this cannot continue is obvious. Unfortunately people blame foreigners and immigration rather than look at the failings of their own society. Some politicians try to exploit these feelings to gain power, and some are succeeding already. We may be looking at enormous upheavals, perhaps a return to the conditions prior to WWII.