Canadian mayors of cities and towns across the Canada-U.S. border are joining forces to respond to President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
At first, there was no Manitoba representation in the group, dubbed the Border Mayors Alliance, but the province was added over the weekend.
According to Emerson-Franklin Reeve Dave Carlson, the group has allowed his municipality to join the alliance.
In an email to CTV News Winnipeg, a spokesperson for the Office of the Mayor of Windsor said representation currently included mayors in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan.
CTV News Winnipeg previously reported that Carlson said it was concerning that Manitoba wasn’t being represented.
“I kind of wonder why. I don’t see the reason for that. I would think we should be invited to it because we are the northern tip of the mid-continent trade corridor, so we have a very important port of entry here, so I would think we should be involved.”
The border crossing is the second busiest port of entry west of the Great Lakes and processes more than one million people every year.
Trump has threatened to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports starting Feb. 1 to stem cross-border traffic in illegal migrants and drugs.
Carlson said if Trump follows through on implementing tariffs, it will have an impact on people living in the area and Manitoba as a whole.
“We have a lot of small businesses in the area and the region that really count on American trade. We also have farmers that sell their products with the United States. We have customs brokers that work at Emerson, obviously border service agents that work at Emerson, transport companies. Anyone that drives a truck typically will cross the border, so I think it will affect a lot of people and jobs.”
Brandon University political science professor Kelly Saunders said it is vital to have a united response when tackling Trump’s tariff threats.
“If you’ve got individual provinces or even individual regions within the provinces going off and doing their own thing, that will make you less able to mitigate the potential damage that can be done.”
Saunders also said she was glad to see Manitoba now has a seat at the table because of the impact the taxes could have on agrifood exports.
“We want to make sure that whatever decisions are being made, whatever negotiating strategies are being adopted, that our voice is being represented.”
When asked about some of the new measures that Manitoba has implemented to beef up border security, Carlson said it’s nice to see this issue being taken seriously.
“I think we just have to be seen to be doing our part. I think it is the right thing to do because you do have, not only the potential migrant crisis, but you do have human smuggling, drugs coming across the border both ways, guns and things like that,” he said.
“Taking border security more seriously and more robustly is definitely welcome.”
- With files from CTV’s Maralee Caruso and Kayla Rosen
