Just twelve hours after U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on Canadian imports went into effect, dozens of protesters lined the sidewalk across from the U.S. embassy in Ottawa, calling on Canadians to stand up to Trump’s rhetoric.
“It takes a lot to rile Canadians up, and I think Canadians are riled up and they’re speaking out. Which they need to do,” said Liz Doran.
“Now is a time in history that is a pivotal moment, I think it’s really important that we make a very strong stand as a country.”
Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs went ahead Tuesday morning, with a lower 10 per cent tariff on Canadian energy, sparking a trade war between two deeply intertwined neighbouring economies, putting jobs on both sides of the border at risk, and likely hiking consumer prices.
The Canadian government quickly retaliated with a tariff plan of its own, to be rolled out in two phases.
To start, $30 billion in U.S. goods are now subject to Canada’s retaliatory levy, with a second round of tariffs on a broader list of American products valued at $125 billion expected to come into effect in late March.
Protesters in Canada’s capital say they don’t plan on bending the knee to the American president any time soon.
“I was worried, but now I’m just mad. I’m going to be out to every protest I can get to, and make sure Trump doesn’t cross our border because that’s nuts,” said Mark Boogaards who drove two hours from Kingston for Tuesday’s rally in Ottawa.
“It’s beyond my wildest dreams. If my mother was still alive, she’d be freaking in her boots. She’d be here beside me.”
Others at the rally said they’re still wrapping their head around Trump’s calls to make Canada the 51st state.
“If you had mentioned this to me like six months ago, I would have probably told you, you were crazy,” said Kathleen Slinn.
“We are in for a bit of a rough ride and bad weather, and I think we need to look out for one another.”
Some travellers returning home to Ottawa after a trip to Florida say they plan to change their travel plans as the trade dispute between the two nations deepens.
“We’re not going back to the United States very soon,” said James Knight.
“I will say that the Americans we were with were apologizing to us. We were at an event a couple of nights ago in a community with friends that were mostly Americans, and they apologized. Very sincerely.”
“We were travelling with friends who, in fact, changed their travel plans so that they wouldn’t stay [in Florida],” said Elizabeth Knight.
“They flew right into Toronto. They weren’t going to stay in the U.S. so, that was interesting.”
In response to Canada’s counter measures, Trump has vowed to match any retaliatory tariffs Trudeau puts in place.
In the meantime, local businesses in the eastern Ontario are hoping Canadians will focus on shopping local, as a wave of Canadian pride sweeps across the nations.
