Sarnia's mayor is telling the federal government not to leave border cities behind.
Mike Bradley was the keynote speaker at a meeting of the Border Mayors Alliance Friday morning.
The mayors and business leaders highlighted the urgent need for federal support for border communities and businesses hardest hit by tariff threats and a drop in cross-border travel.
"The issues in front of us are so big, life-changing for our communities," said Bradley. "We need the federal government to fully understand that as they look at the different sectors to assist them through the tariffs that will be coming, that duty-free stores and border communities specifically need direct support, to deal with what's happening."
Barbara Barrett, executive director of the Frontier Duty Free Association (FDFA), said duty-free shops are at a breaking point.
"These shops are often the anchor employers in their small communities, driving tourism spending and supporting local jobs," said Barrett. "Now, they are facing literal demise due to multiple factors, ongoing tariff threats, a sharp and sustained drop in cross-border traffic and even our political leaders discouraging Canadians from crossing the border altogether."
Bradley said given the present political situation, they're probably on hold for the next four or five weeks.
"And then we'll make a full-court press to make sure that these communities, these individual businesses, can receive the funding they need to survive," said Bradley. "We've been dog paddling now for the last four or five years because of COVID, and this is the last thing we needed to happen, to have these types of tariffs come at us and cause the destruction they will. Once we're through this federal election, whoever the government is, we'll be making our case specifically for border communities."
The Border Mayors Alliance was established in January to unite Canadian border mayors in an effort to protect economic and developmental interests.