City Manager: "Sorry we suck. Please shop American."
Port Huron, Michigan, leaders worry about "PR damage from D.C."
Canadian shoppers are essential to business in the border city of Port Huron, Michigan, and city officials are trying to come up with strategies to offset the steady drop in car traffic over the Blue Water Bridge, down 29% in April from a year ago.
Numbers have fallen since February, when President Trump confirmed in a Fox interview that he was serious making Canada a 51st state.
“We are working on a Canadian Appreciation Day. Trying to undo the PR damage from D.C.,” Port Huron City Manager James Freed told Shifting Gears.
Possible theme: “Sorry we suck. Please shop American.”
He sounds like he’s joking, but not really.
“Tariffs as a matter of policy is a discussion anyone is willing to have. But when you belittle people, that’s another,” Freed said.
The historically close relationship between our ally nations has been turned upside down in ways no one ever could have imagined even a year ago, he said.
“The movie ‘Canadian Bacon’ — which I own — is now less of a comedy and more of a drama. That’s literally what I told my (city) department,” Freed said.
The 1995 film, written and directed by Michael Moore, stars actor Alan Alda in the role of a U.S. president with a low approval rating who launches a propaganda campaign to vilify Canada. As U.S. citizens get caught up in cross-border conflict, gun-wielding residents organize an invasion that raises the potential for war with Canada. Much of the film, which features John Candy, was filmed in Ontario.
The National Post of Canada ran the headline in February: How this movie predicted Canada-U.S. relations 30 years ago.” (A line in the film refers to Canada as “practically a 51st state.”) The film, with an $11 million budget, bombed at the box office.
Separate and apart from Hollywood, this current economic situation — and use of language with our allies — has serious ramifications, Freed said.
“Our commercial base is is double what a population of our town would be because of all the Canadian shoppers. Our economy desperately needs them,” he said. “The bars, restaurants, retail shops."
Canadians need to know they’re respected and valued, Freed said.
The Michigan Department of Transportation, which sources information from Canada’s Federal Bridge Corporation Limited, compiles data that’s monitored closely by state officials.
Jordan Whitmore, new co-owner of the popular Vintage Tavern downtown, said Canadian diners are core to business. “Our economies are intertwined.”
Port Huron City Council Member Barb Payton said the significant drop in Canadian car traffic coming over the Blue Water Bridge confirms businesses are impacted.
“I am deeply concerned about how this will play out,” she said. “They are vital to our economy.”
During a recent march under the Blue Water Bridge, Payton said, a Canadian fishing boat drove up and applauded the crowd of Americans showing support for Canada.
“That trickles down,” Payton said. “We want to make Canadians feel welcome. I think it’s important we reach out to our allies.”
In response to a Port Huron, Michigan, community Facebook post about the drop in traffic from Canada, 167 people posted remarks — some spicy — before the administrator shut off comments.
John Reichle wrote on May 5, “Good, stay home.” Dawn Myler-Kreft responded, “You will miss all the tax revenue they create with their spending dollars.”
Note: I crossed the Blue Water Bridge and went to Sarnia, Ontario, this week. Canadians didn’t want to discuss the situation. A sailor told me that he now has trust issues with regard to the U.S., and he’s not alone. The friendship has changed forever.
After Canadian voters elected Prime Minister Mark Carney on April 27, he vowed, “President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us. That will never, that will never ever happen. But we also must recognize the reality that our world has fundamentally changed.”
In March, Trump referred to Canada as “nasty” and said the ally is meant to be a 51st state. In May, Carney visited the White House and told Trump that Canada is not for sale. Trump responded, “Never say never.”
Port Huron City Mayor Anita Ashford made headlines in The Sarnia Observer for participating in a cross-border friendship flag wave under the bridge.
City leaders continue to monitor activity and talk with business owners as they wait to see what May data shows — whether traffic into Port Huron is continuing to drop as part of a national boycott against the U.S.
“I hope not,” Freed said.
Historical tidbit: Code word for happiness
Port Huron is known by some presidential historians as a very special place.
Harry S. Truman, the only president to see combat in World War I, enlisted in the Army and served in a field artillery unit in France. After his return, he married in 1919. He and Bess spent part of their honeymoon at the Harrington Hotel in Port Huron. Their daughter Margaret, who wrote the New York Times best-selling biography “Bess W. Truman,” said, "For the rest of his life, whenever Harry Truman wanted to regain the radiance of those first days with Bess, he simply wrote: ‘Port Huron.’ For him it was a code word for happiness.”
Truman grew up in Independence, Missouri and worked as a farmer. He served as president from 1945-53. One of his most notable accomplishments was issuing executive orders desegregating the armed forces and forbidding racial discrimination in federal employment.
More: '51st state' fallout: Blue Water Bridge car traffic into U.S. declines
More: Canadian sailors redesign race course, avoid U.S. waters for “safety”
More: My neighbors fly a Canadian flag
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Ms Howard
I cheated. I read the story last PM instead of saving it for this morning.
Another perfect story that commands the attention of our elected officials. Unfortunately, "they" seem to follow him so closely, they crawl behind to pick up his crumb. I thank Ms Howard for her dilligence in keeping us aware of the other things he does that negatively effects all of us, not just Michiganders. I suggest we take your lead and share your stories with the elected officials so they can have an understanding of the damage he's doing to us!
Thanks for another great story.
Peace
Gregg Wilczynski
Retired
I just see that the movie Canadian Bacon is included currently in Amazon Prime. Will have to take a look. Thanks.