A marathon in New York, a road trip through California and a visit to Universal Studios: These are among the U.S. vacation plans that Canadians have cancelled in response to President Donald Trump’s threats against Canada.
Trump’s repeated chirps about Canada becoming a 51st state and threats to impose sweeping tariffs have riled America’s normally mild-mannered northern neighbours.
Most recently, Trump’s latest executive order promises 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports from its biggest supplier, Canada, effective March 12.
As Canadian politicians threaten retaliatory measures — and warn that a trade war would harm both economies — ordinary citizens are also looking for ways to hit back at what they perceive as an unwarranted attack from a close ally.
Polling shows an overwhelming majority of Canadians oppose joining the United States, while the tariff threats have sparked a consumer backlash against American products.
A ‘patriotic’ response
Ottawa artist Jordan Danger cancelled planned trips to the U.S. later this year as “a matter of principle,” despite having already paid a deposit on a visit to Universal Studios.
“I would say it’s a duty at this point,” she told CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning on Tuesday.
The award-winning painter and sculptor said she had also planned to tour American cities this year to explore galleries and expand her audience as a visual artist, but that boycotting U.S. travel was an “appropriate, patriotic” response to Trump’s threats.
Given the Trump administration’s curtailing of protections around 2SLGBTQ+ rights, Danger said her personal welfare in the U.S. was also a concern.
“I and my companion that was going to come with me are both female and neither one of us are straight,” she said. “And so the possibility of going down there and having safety issues is quite high.”
‘Allies’ to minorities ‘uncomfortable’ with Trump
For Amanda-Lyn Smith, the cancellation of a planned holiday to California and Nevada was a family decision.
A two-week trip to Disney Land and Universal Studios might sound like a dream vacation for an eight- or 11-year-old, but Smith said her children no longer wanted to go in light of Trump’s actions.
“The kids were very uncomfortable,” with what they had seen online of the new Trump administration, she told Ottawa Morning.
“We have always been a family that thought of ourselves as allies to those who would consider themselves in the minority category,” she explained.
Smith said her family is now planning to spend the $20,000 they had budgeted on their U.S. road trip on a vacation to Mexico instead.
Likewise, Joe Paraskevas said there’s no shortage of alternatives after he cancelled a planned trip to run the New York City Marathon in November.
“All you want as a marathoner is a well-organized race,” he told Ottawa Morning. “And there are so many great races in Canada.”
The 60-year-old runner qualified for his age group’s world championships to be held in New York after finishing the Hamilton Marathon in three hours and 21 minutes last year.
But he said he would not be visiting the U.S. under Trump.
“They’re out $4,000 thanks to me,” Paraskevas said.
“There are going to be other times, I’ve run 25 marathons,” he said. “So I told my wife that I’ll qualify again next year when the championships go to another country.”
For now, Paraskevas is thinking of running the Quebec City Marathon in October.