Canadian ‘frontline’ border towns already feeling tariff pain, ask for government help

A group of mayors from Canadian border towns issued a plea for help as businesses in their communities suffer through the effects of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.

A group of mayors from Canadian border towns issued a plea for help to upper levels of government on Friday as businesses in their communities suffer through the effects of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and anti-Canadian rhetoric.

“We need the federal government to fully understand and look to different sectors to assist them through the tariffs that will be coming,” Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said during a press conference organized by the Frontier Duty Free Association.

“We’re feeling the pain and we’re on the front line,” Bradley said of his city, which shares a border with Michigan. “That’s just the reality of being a border city. There are many joys to being a border city. But there’s also a lot of pain on occasion when issues beyond our control happen.”

Over the past few months, Trump has issued threats of tariffs while also making comments about Canada becoming America’s 51st state and suggesting our prime minister would become a governor. This has prompted a wave of Canadian nationalism with calls for people to shop local and to cancel visits and vacations across the border.

The group, which included mayors from B.C., Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, say this has caused a decrease in the number of people heading through their communities. The mayors say this has affected the tourism industry, including restaurants and duty-free shops.

“Anything that impedes the flow of people impacts duty-free stores on both sides of the border,” Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop said. “It affects the restaurants, the hospitality industry, tourism. Niagara Falls, Ont. has about three to four million Americans come to visit each year, and that’s in jeopardy.

“There will be economic impacts there and we’re going to feel the same thing here, because people on the other side of the border will start losing their jobs as well.”

Many of the mayors noted that they see their American cousins on a regular basis and that despite the sour relations between the federal governments, things are more cordial on a local level.