Border city mayors from across Canada have banded together to form the Border Mayors Alliance aimed at fighting against Trump’s threatened 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian imports.
“We understand what the impacts are going to be. We know we’re going to be hit first; we know we’re going to be hit hardest,” Dilkens told CTV News.
“Getting the mayors together who have a shared interest, who want to work on a Canada first approach and make sure that we’re speaking in unison here, that we’re not divided. I think it’s really crucial to the national conversation that’s going on, which is why we established this group.”
Dilkens said border city mayors in Canada and in the U.S. are unified. Canadian mayors are using this alliance to share stories in order to insert them into the national conversation.
“Chatham-Kent has a number of companies that export to the U.S. as well, bringing stuff in so if we get a tariff war, it’s going to hit both sides,” said Mayor Darrin Canniff, who is one of 19 mayors from across the country in the alliance.
“We don’t know whether the auto parts are or will be brought into it, but there’s certainly a number of manufacturers here that ship to the U.S. in various forms, not just automotive, but the various other things that will be impacted.”
Laval International president Jonathan Azzopardi said the automotive and manufacturing sector is deeply concerned because the supply chains in both countries have been working in unison for decades.
“I think the governments don’t really understand that level of dependency on each other, but the supply chain really can’t exist one without the other, so when we start hearing about presidents starting to say, well, we don’t really need Canada, here’s the truth. We actually need each other,” said Azzopardi.
Dilkens said conversations have already begun.
“Let’s figure out how we get through this and hopefully make sure that doesn’t happen in the first place,” the Windsor mayor said.
“If they are put in place, let’s activate all the right people to get them out as soon as possible.”
