Most Canadians would be proud to be considered mean and “nasty” for standing up for their sovereignty and economy in the face of U.S. threats, B.C. Premier David Eby said Tuesday – a day after the U.S. ambassador said Canadians avoiding travel south of the border and banning American alcohol have raised the ire of President Donald Trump, and adding that such steps “don’t send positive signals” about Canada treating the United States well.
Pete Hoekstra told an audience at the annual Pacific Northwest Economic Region Foundation summit in Bellevue, Wash., on Monday that is it was “Canadians’ business” if they want to stay home, and added, “I don’t like it, but if that’s what they want to do, it’s fine. They want to ban American alcohol. That’s fine. There are reasons why the president and some of his team referred to Canada as being mean and nasty to deal with, OK, because of some of those steps.”
The ambassador made the remarks about some Canadians turning away from the United States in answer to a question from a conference moderator about what could be done to get people travelling again as Vancouver and Seattle prepare to host games as part of next year’s FIFA World Cup.
But Eby said cross-border co-operation in the region is an example of why Canadians “have no interest in being mean and nasty” and instead want to work together with Americans.
Nevertheless, he said in a statement that Hoekstra’s remarks show Canadians’ efforts to stand up to Trump are “having an impact,” and he encouraged people to “keep it up.”
A statement from a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy said later Monday that Hoekstra had also expressed “optimism” about the future of the relationship between the two countries during his remarks that lasted nearly an hour.
Eby’s statement in response to Hoekstra’s remarks said people should keep buying Canadian products and keep their vacations Canadian. “We won’t take these attacks on our jobs, our economy and our sovereignty, lying down. We’ll stand strong together,” the premier said.
Statistics Canada figures show the number of Canadians returning home by car from south of the border fell to just over 33% in June compared with the same month last year, marking the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year declines.
Return trips by air fell to just over 22% year-over-year.
The number of Americans arriving in Canada by air decreased 0.7% in June compared with the same time last year, while arrivals by car dropped 10.4%.
Wedad Bishara with Marlin Travel in Vancouver said U.S.-bound travellers make up just five to 10% of her business, but she has noticed a shift since last November, when Trump announced plans to slap steep tariffs on Canadian goods.
Some of her clients have indicated they would rather not travel south of the border, while others have continued to spend summers at time-share properties in Arizona and California, Bishara said in an interview on Tuesday.
Overall, though, people are interested in travelling to Eastern Canada “more than any other year before,” Bishara said, adding she has worked in the Canadian market for more than three decades.
“So, there are more trips that we design for Newfoundland and New Brunswick and all the East Coast.”
Bishara said the Maritimes have a “richness of beauty” and her clients have returned home happy with their experiences. There is interest in discovering Canada than we used to have in the past.”
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