As 40 million Canadians brace for the impact of the pending tariff trade war between the United States and Canada, mayors on border cities across the country are working together to share information to inform their citizens amid the economic chaos.
In Osoyoos, the tourist town of 5,500 that has had such a strong working relationship with Americans for decades, Mayor Sue McKortoff admits the uncertainty of the impact of universal tariffs demanded by newly-elected American President Donald Trump. Itsa国际传媒 causing extreme anxiety for residents in Osoyoos, which shares its border with Oroville, Wash..
Last week, McKortoff was invited and accepted an invitation to join the Border Mayorsa国际传媒 Alliance, organized by Drew Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor, Ont., which shares its border with Detroit.
McKortoff participated in two brief meetings with the alliance and confirmed she would be participating in what is expected to be a longer meeting with dozens of border city mayors across Canada on Tuesday.
After weeks of threats, Trump and his administration confirmed over the weekend it would be imposing universal 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods being imported into the United States.
Over the weekend, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his Liberal government announced retaliatory 25 per cent tariffs on hundreds of millions of dollars of American products being imported into Canada.
McKortoffsa国际传媒 primary goal is to listen to different opinions, gather information and discuss possible action border town mayors might be able to initiate should this dispute drag on.
The Trump administration announced Monday morning that proposed 25 per cent universal tariffs against Mexico would be suspended for one month after the Mexican government promised to send 10,000 military members to the American border to deal with issues relating to immigration and drugs.
Meanwhile, there was some faint hope for Canadians as the 25 per cent tariffs against Canadian goods were delayed by one month, Trump announced Monday.
鈥淚 am there to listen and to try and understand and figure out what is best for our community and the South Okanagan. Highway 97 is a super busy corridor and the border crossing here in Osoyoos is one of the busiest in all of Canada, so theresa国际传媒 a lot to talk about,鈥 McKortoff said.
鈥淚 think I just need to be able to understand whatsa国际传媒 happening, what is being done and what are the suggestions from other people across the country.鈥
The reality is theresa国际传媒 chaos and confusion about the impact of the tariffs on both Canada and the United States and it has been difficult to truly know the impact these proposed tariffs will have on each countrysa国际传媒 respective economy moving forward, said McKortoff.
鈥淵ou know, things seem to be changing daily,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still not quite sure how these tariffs are going to affect us. I鈥檓 having a chat later today with the chair of our Chamber of Commerce here in Osoyoos because I want to know what she thinks about whatsa国际传媒 happening and what she would recommend. I鈥檒l see if she has any questions she would like me to ask the other border mayors.
鈥淲hatsa国际传媒 happening seems to be so confusing to just about everybody. I was talking to a local business owner just the other day, who does a lot of cross-border trucking鈥 and they were not quite sure how it was going to affect them.
鈥淭here remains just too many questions about whatsa国际传媒 happening.鈥
One of her biggest concerns is this trade war dragging on and negatively affecting the number of American tourists who regularly visit Osoyoos and the Okanagan Valley each spring, summer and fall.
鈥淗ow will this affect tourism is obviously a big concern,鈥 she said. 鈥淲ith the Canadian dollar not worth as much, will Americans still want to come up here and use their money to have a vacation as Osoyoos remains a tourist destination municipality?
鈥淭heresa国际传媒 just a ton of questions and I鈥檓 not sure at this point if anyone has any definitive answers yet. So my job, I think, because I have been invited to this border mayorsa国际传媒 meeting, is to listen and to hear what other people have to say and I鈥檓 sure itsa国际传媒 going to change on a daily basis. It really depends on who talks to who.
鈥淚 just want to listen to other people about their concerns across the country. At the two meetings we had last week, the tone was letsa国际传媒 just talk together and think about how we can support one another. There are businesses that will be influenced by this, so we need organizations like the Chamber of Commerce to be involved as well.鈥
Jumping to conclusions about the impact of this trade war won鈥檛 help anyone, so her only goal on the mayorsa国际传媒 alliance is to listen, gather information and share that information with members of council and Osoyoos and area residents, said McKortoff.
鈥淚 think itsa国际传媒 way too complicated and itsa国际传媒 way too confusing right now, so I don鈥檛 have any specific ideas about what to do or how to deal with it, but my job is to try and get as much information as I can and present that to council, the regional district board and just see where we can go from here,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 honestly don鈥檛 know if anyone has any real answers right now. How is this going to affect jobs? How is this going to affect tourism? We just don鈥檛 know.鈥
Mayors in Creston, Nelson and Surrey are also part of the border mayorsa国际传媒 alliance, said McKortoff.
McKortoff said itsa国际传媒 not her job to lay blame for whosa国际传媒 at fault in this dispute between America and Canada, who have enjoyed such a strong alliance for more than 200 years.
However, she did find it upsetting to see and hear so many Canadians booing the American national anthem during professional sporting events this past weekend.
鈥淚 was disheartened when I heard the booing when the American anthem was being sung,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 thought 鈥榦h dear鈥, thatsa国际传媒 pretty awful isn鈥檛 it? I don鈥檛 blame them, but itsa国际传媒 unusual and itsa国际传媒 just too bad thatsa国际传媒 itsa国际传媒 happening because it won鈥檛 do any of us any good.
鈥淲e need to be kind and we need to be thoughtful,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e need to work together and try and understand each other and not let others who are out for themselves try and push us around.鈥
Canada and the U.S. have been through tough trade negotiations in the past and remained close allies, so McKortoff is mildly optimistic cooler heads can prevail and reach a trade deal both countries and their citizens can benefit from in the long run.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know because I鈥檓 not sure if we鈥檝e been through anything that appears to be as negative to this extent before,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 know we鈥檝e had serious meetings over the years and the alliances that we鈥檝e had with the U.S. and with Mexico.
鈥淚 just don鈥檛 think we鈥檙e the kind of countries that normally do this kind of thing where it has become nasty. I think we try and be kind and work together, so I have no idea. I鈥檓 an optimist and I鈥檓 hoping that things will improve.
鈥淭he uncertainty has made things disheartening and makes people quite nervous. We鈥檙e concerned about peoples鈥 jobs and where people are going to spend their money. I鈥檝e always pushed shop local and always said that since I鈥檝e been mayor. I鈥檓 hoping people will do that a little more mindfully now considering whatsa国际传媒 going on. Letsa国际传媒 look after ourselves as best we can, but we鈥檙e all neighbours and should work together.鈥
