Mayors of border cities cry out to feds for funding, support as tariff war with U.S. takes its toll

Edzi'u Loverin · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 21, 2025 4:38 PM EDT | Last Updated: 22 minutes ago

A radical of mayors from cities and towns hugging the Canada-U.S. borderline is calling connected the Canadian national authorities for assistance arsenic cross-border governmental tensions and tariff uncertainties make hardship for their communities.

The 8 mayors comprising the Border Mayors Alliance sounded the alarm astatine a nationalist online quality league connected Friday. They accidental their section economies, jobs and businesses are astatine risk, particularly since the tariff warfare with the U.S. has travel on heels of the pandemic.

"We've been canine paddling present for the past 4 oregon 5 years due to the fact that of COVID, and this [U.S. tariffs] is the past happening we needed to happen," said Mike Bradley, politician of Sarnia, Ont. "We're feeling the symptom and we're connected the beforehand line … so we bash not privation to beryllium near behind." 

Duty-free stores look 'literal demise'

The mayors say their communities trust connected cross-border businesses specified arsenic duty-free stores to bolster their economies.

Barbara Barrett, the enforcement manager of the Frontier Duty Free Association (FDFA), says duty-free stores, which rely completely connected cross-border travel, present face "literal demise" amid U.S. President Donald Trump's threatened and imposed tariffs connected Canadian goods.

Dave Carlson, reeve of the Manitoba municipality of Emerson-Franklin, says the duty-free store successful Emerson is a vital cog successful the section economy and employs much than 20 people, 1 of the biggest employers successful the municipality of astir 675 people, according to 2016 Census data.. 

Carlson believes the cross-country messaging to "Buy Canadian" is hurting the alliance's communities.

"We're hoping that the national authorities can, sooner than later, get to the bargaining array and get this resolved, due to the fact that this has gone acold excessively agelong with rhetoric saying 'Don't store U.S., don't spell to the United States,' Carlson said.

"That affects a batch of jobs, a batch of businesses and a batch of communities, truthful our hopes are that we tin get past this sooner than later."

There are 32 duty-free stores crossed Canada, operating successful 7 provinces, according to a 2024 study by the FDFA.

Duty-free stores correspond astir $35 cardinal a twelvemonth successful federal, provincial and section taxes, with operators investing a full of much than $60 cardinal successful borderline communities, the study says.

Cameron Bissonnette, a second-generation duty-free store proprietor successful Osoyoos, B.C., teared up portion explaining the dire concern of his concern during the existent climate. He says helium mislaid $67 1 time past week, meaning nary transactions were carried retired but for a refund.

"I haven't collected a paycheque from my concern since June of past year. Now it's getting to the constituent wherever I'm wondering however overmuch longer tin I wage my staff," Bissonette said.

Trina Jones, the politician of Woodstock, N.B., says the provinces and Ottawa request to "act rapidly and smartly" to assistance businesses successful borderline communities specified arsenic hers earlier it's excessively late.