Are Canadians “mean and nasty” for refusing to travel to the U.S. and pulling American booze from liquor store shelves amid tariff and annexation threats?
That is America’s perspective. President Donald Trump, his ambassador to Canada told a Washington state audience on Monday morning — comments that drew a rebuke from B.C. A member of the audience questioned Premier David Eby-Pete Hoesktra while he was delivering a speech at the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region Foundation summit in Bellevue, Wash., regarding the reason why Canadians would avoid traveling south of the border in light of the upcoming FIFA 2026 World Cup. That’s their business — I don’t like it, but if that’s what they want to do, that’s fine. That they want to prohibit American alcohol is acceptable. Hokestra responded, “It doesn’t necessarily send real positive signals in terms of how well they treat us.” The president and a portion of his staff refer to Canada as hostile and difficult to deal with for a variety of reasons, OK. Hoekstra then said that because border guards don’t check his car when he crosses the border, he has no trouble getting liquor from the United States into Canada. The crowd laughed. Eby issued a statement in response and urged residents of British Columbia to increase their efforts to purchase goods and travel within Canada. It is evident that our efforts are having an effect, “Eby stated. So, I tell my fellow Canadians to keep up the good work. Keep buying Canadian. Keep your travels to Canada. We won’t take these attacks our jobs, our economy and our sovereignty, lying down. We’ll stand strong together.”
In light of the trade dispute and Trump’s frequent musings about making Canada the 51st state, possibly through the use of “economic force,” a number of Canadian provinces, including British Columbia and Ontario, have removed U.S. liquor from their stores. Canadian travel to the U.S. has also plummeted, with the number of visits by land and air falling for six consecutive months.
Earlier on Monday, a bipartisan delegation of U.S. senators travelled to Ottawa to plead with tourists to return to the U.S. and tell Canadians “we miss you.” The United States and Canada are still locked in intense negotiations for a new trade and security agreement, and on Sunday, Canada’s tariffs would remain, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick promised. “The president understands that we need to open the markets. Canada is not open to us. Their market must be opened. “They will pay a tariff unless they are willing to open their market,” Lutnick stated on CBS’s Face the Nation. Trump has threatened a new 35 per cent tariff on Canadian products that would take effect on Aug. 1, along with a new 50 per cent tariff on copper and a 200 per cent tariff on pharmaceuticals.
Steel and aluminum tariffs of 25% imposed by the United States currently affect Canada.
Trump thinks Canadians are ‘mean and nasty’ for boycotting U.S. travel, booze: Ambassador
