Billboards denouncing President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada are appearing across the U.S. and the Canadian government refuses to say how much taxpayer dollars are being spent on the campaign.
Canada’s foreign minister announced last Friday that the billboards would go up in “red states.”
Speaking on CNN last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly warned American viewers ahead of time that the Canadian government would purchase digital billboards along key highways in Florida, Nevada, Georgia, New Hampshire, Michigan and Ohio.
True North has received several reports from Canadians vacationing in Arizona and Nevada, who said the billboards are in place and highly visible.
“Here’s the sign that we saw here in Arizona many times,” wrote Angela Cordoso from Vancouver, who was on vacation outside Phoenix, Arizona.
Justifying the billboards, Joly further told CNN: “Canadians are sending the message that there’s no winners in a trade war. There will be job losses on both sides of the border, particularly in the U.S.,” Joly said in the interview with CNN.
When questioned on the cost of the billboards, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to answer directly — even when asked by the CBC.
In observing the ubiquity of the billboards along Arizona highways, Canadian vacationer Angela Cordoso vented her frustration: “As a Canadian it infuriates me because there is no reason for our government to be wasting tax payer’s money by advertising in America. I’m sure the billboard ads are not cheap,” she told True North.
“There wasn’t just one billboard. There were different boards along just the one highway. I wonder how many other interstates they’re on and what other states they’re advertising in?” Cordoso added.
“We wouldn’t be in the predicament of these tariffs if our government did their job, secured the border and stopped the drugs.”
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce estimates that a 25 per cent tariff could shrink Canada’s GDP by 2.6 per cent, costing Canadian households an average of $1,900 annually. For the U.S., this would translate to a 1.6 per cent GDP drop with American families losing $1,300 per year.
While it’s difficult to precisely ascertain the immediate effects of Canadian tariffs on U.S. goods, it certainly had an immediate effect on travel between the two countries.
Passenger bookings on Canada–US routes are already down by 70% compared to the same period last year.