Canadian snowbirds cancel Florida trips over Trump's threats

Bob Bloomer was loath to cancel his Florida trip this year. 

The retiree from Cobourg, Ont., looks forward to the annual pilgrimage to Orlando. Come March, a third of the cars in his usual resort's lot seem to have Ontario licence plates.

The chance to catch a tan, play golf and catch up with familiar faces has become a family tradition. 

Except for the early pandemic, Bloomer and his wife have travelled south every March for the past 20 years, he told CBC. The kids came too before they grew up. 

So why did he cancel this year?

"Basically just frustration listening to Trump and all his rhetoric about how Canada's taking advantage of the U.S. with the trade agreement that basically he engineered," he said.

Since assuming office again in January, President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada, or introduce punishing tariffs on Canadian goods.

Coming from Canada's closest ally, these threats have angered many of the approximately one million Canadian snowbirds who travel to the U.S. each winter.

Some have cancelled trips, while others are considering whether they will return next season.

The implications of a boycott are worrying Florida hoteliers, realtors and organizations that represent snowbirds.

Down in Hollywood, Fla., the water is still warm and the weather is still perfect, so Richard Clavet can't understand why Canadian guests are cancelling bookings. 

"Right now, the places are being filled up with Americans. I just wish I had more Canadians," he told CBC.

The proprietor of Richard's Motel, Clavet arrived from Quebec in 1985 and never left, becoming an ambassador for a French-speaking enclave in the beachside community north of Miami. 

Since buying his first motel in 1990, he has amassed a group of properties now offering about 200 units to an almost exclusively Québécois clientele. They came to escape brutal winters but return year after year for the Québécois television, the French magazines and the poutine food truck.