Q&A: Are border mayors being left out of the strategy to combat tariff threats? Sarnia's mayor says so
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley says border city mayors have on the ground advice
Prime Minister Trudeau and Canada's premiers met this week to discuss the threat of Tariffs from the U.S. on Canadian goods, and Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said this country's border towns should be part of the conversation. Bradley said border cities will have a pivotal role to play in Canada-U.S. relations and spoke with CBC's Matt Allen on Afternoon Drive.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
LISTEN: Sarnia mayor says border city mayors should be consulted on tariff threats
Matt Allen: There's been lots of talk about the impact of tariffs at the national and provincial level but there's not been as much conversation around municipalities like Sarnia and the symbiotic relationship that you have across the border. How is your community responding?
Mike Bradley: Some people are saying, "We're simply not going to Port Huron in Michigan, which is right across the border from us. We're not going to Florida or Arizona this year." That's all anecdotal, but I'm sensing a lot of just disappointment in the way we're being treated.
And I think they're very fearful. The mood in America right now is not positive toward anyone from outside of America, and that is generating these types of reactions from people in this community.
MA: You mentioned reaction from your community. What about your neighbours across the border in Michigan?
MB: Here in Michigan, St. Clair County, right across from us, both elections voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump. So we know what the politics are. We continue to have a civil relationship with our American counterparts.
We were warned by the American mayor that it's going to be "America first, America first and America first" for the next four years, where usually there has been some give and take on the big issues. That is not going to happen this time.
MA: What are you doing to prepare your community with that in mind?
MB: Well, I've been very vocal, talking to local and national media on the issues, trying to identify to people what the concerns are and trying to explain tariffs, which I hardly understand.
The one big issue here is Line 5, the pipeline from Alberta through the United States to Sarnia. It's been an issue for the last three or four years, and we were making headway with the Biden administration not to shut it down. We don't know where Trump will go.
We know he likes pipelines, but we don't think he likes Canadian pipelines. So that's a big concern because that would dramatically impact jobs in Sarnia — probably 2,000 to 3,000 jobs if that line were to close across Ontario and Quebec, and ironically in Michigan.
MA: Now, there's been lots of conversations at the federal and provincial levels on the tariff threat. What kind of conversations have you had with folks at those levels? Have you been included in any of those conversations?
MB: Well, only indirectly. I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister and to Minister LeBlanc before Christmas saying, "You need to talk to the border city mayors. We're the best consultants you'll ever get. We understand the personal relationships. We understand the dynamics of trade. Talk to us."
I got nothing back at all from the federal government.
I've had some dialogue and made a plea again to the federal government to bring in the border city mayors —Sarnia, Windsor, the Sioux, Cornwall, you name it — to give you the on-the-ground advice you need. You can't get that from a consultant. You can't get it from political advisors. Talk to the people who live there every day.
MA: Why do you think the cities have been left out of this process?
MB: Well, it's Canada. Even though after the First Nations, we're the longest and oldest form of government, the province and the feds control us. My own view is that they believe all the wisdom is at Queen's Park and on Parliament Hill. It's not. What we're doing is we're nonpartisan. I don't even know the political beliefs of most of the mayors I deal with. We care about our community and we care about our country, and we want to be there to give our advice and to support whatever.
If the province and the federal government can get their act together, the Premier and the Prime Minister have one voice, then we can help support that effort just as we did during COVID.
MA: The inauguration is in just a few days. How do you foresee the next four years going?
MB: A rollercoaster ride. A year from now, God knows where we'll be at. One thing I'd like Canadians to think about is that let's make it to the 158th anniversary of Canada this July 1st. Let's vocalize, 40 million of us, how proud we are to be Canadians and get that message across to the average American.