Canadian mayors of cities and towns along the Canada-U.S. border are coming together to fight proposed tariffs.
They have launched the 'Border Mayors Alliance.'
Speaking on AM800's The Dan MacDonald Show, Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens, who also serves as chair of the alliance feels Windsor plays a huge role in the alliance.
He says he appreciates his colleagues selecting him as chair and feels they understand Windsor is home to the busiest commercial border crossing between the United States and Canada.
"We have mayors from Surrey, B.C. on the west coast all the way over to New Brunswick and many spots in between," he says. "There's probably about 20 of us and several calling to join this alliance. We think there's strength in numbers, we think this is a Canada first approach and we think our voices are important in this conversation."
Dilkens says a trade war has causalities on all sides.
"There are people who are going to suffer," says Dilkens. "So let's make sure we're linking arms, making sure that the people who are making these decisions understand what the impacts will be and try and find a resolve before we get to a very difficult place."
He says today is the first official day for the alliance.
"We had a meeting late last week to bring the group together and there's great cohesion and people are certainly putting Canada first," says Dilkens. "We understand that we have to speak in a unified voice, that there are impacts from coast to coast in the country and this is about being able to share those stories."
The Border Mayors Alliance aims to serve as a unified, national voice to protect and advocate for our communities in the face of President Trump’s intended 25% tariff on all Canadian imports to the U.S. pic.twitter.com/3H7wvbwqjs
— Mayor Drew Dilkens (@drewdilkens) January 24, 2025
The alliance plans to represent communities from coast to coast that are poised to suffer immensely from the tariffs.
The alliance says the mayors will work to protect economic and development interests and has already began to identify alternative supply chains to mitigate immediate disruptions as well as develop contingency strategies.
According to the alliance, the Canada-U.S. trade relationship is one of the largest in the world, worth $950-billion each year, supporting millions of jobs on both sides of the border.
Late Monday night, U.S. President Donald Trump said he is looking at February 1 as the day he plans to slap Canada and Mexico with 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs.