Morris mayor, Scott Crick, is rallying residents and business owners as they prepare to navigate the inevitable effects of the U.S. trade tariffs, and Canada's retaliatory measures.
President Trump's executive order hitting Canada and Mexico with 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs, with a lower 10 per cent levy on Canadian energy, took effect Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. ET. In response, Canada immediately introduced 25 per cent retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion worth of American products, with plans to expand them to cover another $125 billion in U.S. goods in 21 days.
That same day, Crick took to social media outlining the reality of the situation and what it could mean for his community.
"It's still not one hundred per cent clear how wide-ranging these tariffs will be in terms of how they affect our community," explained Crick. "On the one hand, any firm that deals in export business to the U.S. is going to feel it almost immediately, depending on what their American customers choose to do. As the Canadian government continues to add retaliatory tariffs, it's going to make importing goods, especially those manufactured in the United States, more expensive for our local businesses."
Where the impact could be felt nearly immediately, however, added Crick, is the anticipated reduction in commercial and recreational traffic heading north to south through town, located halfway between Winnipeg and the international border on Highway 75 which is Manitoba's main trade corridor and a direct route to the United States. This, explained the Mayor, would come at great cost to local restaurants and gas stations, to name a few.
A call to action
"To some extent, first of all, it is very difficult for just regular citizens, let alone someone who's an elected official in a small community, we are not going to personally affect international disputes over trade," he said. "So, for most people, I think the challenge is, what can I do to take some sort of action in this situation? Other than, of course, being in touch with various elected officials and expressing support for approaches that they're taking, which is important. At the ground level, everybody can do something. I've often found, myself, that doing something feels better than doing nothing, and by empowering ourselves to buy Canadian and support local businesses, that's one thing every citizen can do to help support our community through what may end up being a very challenging time."
So, what are the things Crick recommends be done?
1) Patronize local businesses, with a focus on those which will be hurting with reduced traffic (restaurants, retail, services).
"You've heard me state in multiple occasions, whether it was due to flooding or due to COVID-19, supporting the local economy is important," said Crick. They create jobs in our community and it's important to ensure they're supported again, understanding that the immediate impact will be on that economic traffic coming through town like restaurants, gas stations, grocery, any customer service type businesses and giving them as much support as quickly as possible."
2) Look at shifting online purchasing to companies that support local business (i.e. placing orders on the national website and having the items delivered to local location).
"It's become far too convenient to just pick up your phone or get on your computer, log into Amazon and buy a bunch of things which you may not need," said Crick. "I think that this is a very good time for us to look at how our buying habits and all the things that we're buying online from a company like Amazon, they could be bought locally or even bought online from a local company. I see that as a very good opportunity for us to kind of shift or rethink how we buy things and maybe replace convenience with understanding that there's an economic impact important to our community."
3) Speak with local businesses about your needs — if there is an alternative to a U.S. product you would like, or they are not carrying something you need, often they can get it for you, just ask!
"I found this personally during COVID-19 where I could approach a business owner and say something I needed, and they were able to bring it in for me. So, I think that's an important piece too. Talk with your local business. If you would like them to supply something for you, talk to them and you may be surprised, you may be able to get exactly what you need."
4) Look at local options when sourcing food — there are plenty of regional entrepreneurial farmers who will need our support.
"It's a little bit out of season right now, but one of the areas where I feel we may feel a delayed impact on tariffs, depending on how long they last, is in the agricultural sector," added Crick. "So, I think it will be important that as we go into a much warmer time of year, are there opportunities to source produce locally? Are there opportunities to source meat locally? Are there opportunities to help support, especially creative, young, entrepreneurial farm families?"
"I've often said that there's no right way to do this," noted the Mayor. "If everybody can put in whatever effort they can, whatever they can afford, whatever they could do within their lifestyle. As long as everybody does what they can, it will be important in supporting our local business and it'll be important for supporting our Canadian economy."
Words of encouragement
While he says global events like this can be paralyzing, Crick offers encouragement, and a warning to protect our mental health.
"One of the things especially we observed during and post-COVID is that mental health and generally, the overload of information people receive, is very negative towards most peoples' mental health. When someone sits and watches the news non-stop or is doom scrolling any variety of social media, it's very easy to damage and compromise your mental health. One of the best ways to deal with those feelings of helplessness, that feeling of victimization and of being just a pawn in these larger currents is to empower yourself to do the things you can. That's something I've often stressed within work, within my family environment. Don't be a victim. Do what you can. If everybody does what they can, guaranteed it is going to make positive change but, more importantly for that mental health aspect, doing something positive is always better than just reading about what's negative."