MP Patty Hadju at a May 2024 announcement in Thunder Bay - (CJ Goater/Acadia Broadcasting)
Northwestern Ontario residents do not need to worry about how new tariffs will impact them at least for now.
President Donald Trump has delayed potential tariffs for at least 30 days following a Monday afternoon call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
A northwestern Ontario MP says the tariff threats are bully behaviour.
“I’m really proud of Canadians and the Canadian government for the quick response to this threat to our economic sovereignty,” said Thunder Bay-Superior North MP, Patty Hadju. “We are no stranger to tariffs up here.”
In August, the U.S. significantly increased its duties on softwood lumber from Canada from 8.05 to 14.54 per cent, and additional tariffs would impact the industry.
“Northern Ontario holds 86% of the province’s forested land,” explained Hadju. “So you know, our sectors are pretty exposed and then when you combine that with the fact that we’ve got a number of small communities that are reliant, oftentimes they’re sort of single economy and a single industry economies, nearly half of Northern Ontario’s residents live in these smaller communities, 38 of them are single industry.”
“Even the closure of a mill in an economy that’s heavily reliant on that particular sector can be deeply impacted, so, you know, Northern Ontario is exposed, no doubt about it.”
Other industries that would feel the burden of potential tariffs are mining, manufacturing, and small businesses.
“The other thing I would just say is that in Northern Ontario, we host 27 of Ontario’s 28 metal mines,” said Hadju. “We produced $15.7 billion in minerals annually, this is 2023 numbers and accounts for 26 per cent of Canada’s total production, so the region is a key producer of gold, nickel, copper, and platinum group elements, which are major exports to the US.”
There is a silver lining and an opportunity for Canadians with or without tariffs eventually being implemented.
“Canadians are pulling together and are seeing this as the existential threat that it is to not just our economies, because economies, you know, that’s a pretty broad word, but to our families, to our communities, to our ways of life,” explained Hadju. “One really immediate thing is to not buy products from the United States to buy made-in-Canada products when possible, to really look at ways that we can reduce spending any money on the American economy.”
“We can buy Canadian, we can choose to vacation in Canada or in other countries around the world, we can choose to, you know, forgo the cross-border trip that maybe some of us have plans to make, in particular in northern Ontario, where so many of us go to the United States for pleasure. We can choose to spend those recreation dollars at home or in communities across Canada that could really benefit from that expenditure.”
In the end, it will be American and Canadian residents who will pay the burden of President Trump’s tariffs if he decides to implement them.
“The sort of sad reality is that there are no winners in a trade war like this, Americans are gonna pay more for Canadian products, some of which they rely on, including minerals, including forest products, including small businesses that are selling products over the border and, of course, Canadians are gonna feel that pinch as well.”
Moving forward, residents will have to take a wait-and-see approach on potential tariffs.
“Canadians across the country are strong and united in our defence of our country and communities,” added Hadju. “While this is a reprieve, Canada and Canadians will continue to stand on guard to protect our economy and our sovereignty.”
