BC Libraries Present: Elbows Up! On Canadian Resistance

It’s 2025. Donald Trump is president. And he is insisting that Canada is for sale. It feels disorienting, even existential, to watch a trade war escalate and to hear an American president vow to make Canada “the 51st state.” Amid this disorientation, there is an urgent question: how do we meet the moment?

CBC host Elamin Abdelmahmoud edited Elbows Up!, a collection of essays and reflections by leading cultural figures speaking candidly on America, Canada, and the malleable contours of a national narrative still taking hold. Come hear Elamin and two contributors (to be revealed soon) discuss this pivotal moment in history, how we got here, and how we walk together into an uncertain future.

Elamin Abdelmahmoud is the host of CBC Radio's pop culture show Commotion. He was a founding co-host of the CBC Politics podcast Party Lines, and he contributed to The National’s At Issue panel. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, The Globe and Mail, and other publications. Elamin is also the author of the bestselling memoir, Son of Elsewhere.

REGISTER

After you click the 'Register' button, you will be taken to an external website, Crowdcast, where you can register and watch the event. Here are the instructions on how to register.

BC Libraries Present is a virtual author series that brings exciting conversations to library users in every corner of British Columbia. This series is a project of BC’s public library federations, coordinated by Public Library InterLink, with the generous financial support of the Province of British Columbia through the Ministry of Municipal Affairs.

Other talks in the Fall 2025 series include:

• November 21: Cory Doctorow
• December 4: Timothy Caulfield