Bellingham City Council in Washington State has penned a letter to British Columbians, reaffirming their commitment to relations with residents north of the border amid ongoing tensions between Canada and the U.S.
“I believe the letter, if I’m going to summarize, was essentially a governmental handshake in a city capacity, just wanting to reach over and show, just collaboration,” said Guy Occhiogrosso, president and CEO of the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“One of the ways that we’re terming it among a couple of other local agencies is just [being] ready for the warm welcome, letting everyone know that when Canadians are ready to come back, for those that aren’t, we’ll be ready for you.”
Occhiogrosso said it is hard to pinpoint the exact impact the decline in cross-border travel is having on Bellingham but restaurants and stores are noticing a difference.
“The entities that we represent as the chamber are having an interesting time trying to assess the impacts, and I think that’s what we’re doing at this point,” he said.
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Last weekend, a bipartisan group of five U.S. senators visited Ottawa to say they want to bolster the Canada-U.S. relationship despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent attacks. The lone Republican in the group urged Canadians to “give us another chance.”
The senators met with Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has vowed to pursue a new economic and security partnership with the U.S. while acknowledging that the trend of “deep integration” between the two countries is over.
The American lawmakers say that long-standing relationships must continue, with trade, tourism and defence partnerships among the key areas where collaboration is critical.
“We have to do this stuff together,” Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block.
“We’ll be better at it if we’re friends than if we’re just tolerating one another… I’m just here (in Ottawa) to say thank you, and then to encourage Canadians to take another look and give us another chance.”
Occhiogrosso also expressed the importance of rebuilding and maintaining the relationship between the U.S. and Canada, recognizing that it may take days, weeks, months, or even years for Canadians to feel like they want to cross the border again.
“And us, in partnership with our tourism bureau, are really kind of leaning in on this warm welcome to say we recognize where people are,” he said.
“Locally, there’s not a lot that we can do to fix some of those emotions, some of these concerns, but we’re ready. We’re ready for you when you come back. And I think this leans into the hundreds of years of relationship that our communities experience.”
-with files from Sean Boynton
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