By Brian Owens, The Courier
The communities of St. Stephen, New Brunswick and Calais, Maine have historically always been close – many say it often feels like the border doesn’t exist and they are one town divided by a little more than a river.
“I consider Calais just as much my hometown as St. Stephen,” says its Mayor Allan MacEachern.
But the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing that relationship to a breaking point. Many in St Stephen, including MacEachern himself, have stopped or greatly curtailed their trips across the border in response to Trump’s on-again-off-again tariffs and with his frequent comments that Canada should become the 51st state.
Vern Faulkner, former editor of The Courier, says he has stopped visiting Calais, and won’t return until “this is all done”. He has communicated this to several businesses he used to frequent as well as the Calais Chamber of Commerce.
“I have explained the reasons why and have suggested they raise this with their political leaders,” he says. “It’s the only power I have, really.”
While not everyone is taking the same approach, MacEachern says it appears that traffic has fallen significantly at the town’s border crossing, as it has across the country.
The most recent data from the Canadian Border Services Agency shows that between February 23 and March 1 the number of Canadians returning to Canada via the land border fell by more than 14 per cent compared to the same week last year, though data on specific ports of entry is not yet available.
The tariff fight
With Canada’s retaliatory tariffs entering into force on March 4, those numbers are likely to fall further as new duties are levied on people bringing goods back into Canada. While Trump has once again paused some tariffs until April 2, Canada has left its tariffs in place until the issue is resolved.
Canada’s tariffs are less extensive than the broader U.S. ones, says Chris Horne, president of AE Horne & Sons Customs Brokers in St. Stephen.
“It’s a strategic approach aimed at certain things they see coming across a lot,” he said, including groceries, clothing, furniture, and electronics.
While Horne has been busy answering questions from clients about the tariffs, he does not foresee it helping his business.
“It’s probably going to slow importing down for a time as the shock of tariffs hits,” he said. And he is concerned about the long-term impacts of a lengthy trade war.
“It doesn’t take long to do damage to years of cooperation between two countries,” he said. “It could all be undone in a matter of weeks if this goes on. Hopefully cooler heads prevail.”
MacEachern said he has heard many people questioning why Canadians are being forced to pay tariffs by their own government, and he understands the frustration.
“I understand that we’re retaliating against our neighbours, and I struggle with that,” he said. “But they are also doing it to us.”
At the end of the day, he adds, “we have to use what tools we have to get our point across and get this resolved. The only way of getting Trump to listen is to see the effects of the dollar.”
Consumer choices
It’s not just cross-border shopping trips that are being affected. Many people are taking more notice of their purchasing decisions at home as well. The shelves at the St. Stephen Superstore now sport dozens of red labels indicating which products are made in Canada, to help customers make informed choices about what they buy.
The Southwest New Brunswick Service Commission is also changing the software it uses, switching from American companies like Microsoft to Canadian or International alternatives.
Hollis Bartlett, chief executive of the commission, said that the decision was largely due to concerns about data security.
Using industry standard software like Microsoft Office and OneDrive cloud storage means the data sits on servers in the United States and is subject to their laws such as the Patriot Act, said Bartlett.
“Should things escalate it will be safer if our data and email information is stored within Canada’s borders where it is protected by our laws,” he says.
The commission has started moving away from OneDrive to a Canadian alternative, which has turned out to work better and cost less money. The next step will be moving email away from Microsoft Outlook, and finding a more secure web browser, and maybe even finding an alternative to Microsoft Office.
Bartlett says other Canadian government organisations should consider following suit, as we can no longer trust the US technology sector.
“All you had to do was look at who was standing behind Trump at the inauguration,” he said.
MacEachern says he expects council will be having similar conversations about where the town spends its money in the future, especially when it comes to large purchases like vehicles and equipment.
Maintaining ties
Despite the tensions, few want to completely sever the longstanding relationship between the two communities. The annual International Homecoming Festival, held in both communities each summer since 1974, has long been a celebration of the close cross-border relationship.
Michelle Vest, community services coordinator for St. Stephen said that for now planning for this year’s event continues despite the political turmoil.
“We don’t want to speculate on what may happen in the future and so we, as we always have including during Covid, are in continued communication and are working together with the American committee to make the week the best we can,” she said.
Tracey Matheson organised a candlelight vigil on the St. Stephen wharf last month to show solidarity with people in Calais, especially marginalised groups and those who oppose Trump.
“People there that I know are feeling a lot of concern and fear,” she says. “I would be too.”
