Eastern Ontario Municipal Leaders Condemn United States Government Tariffs
March 4, 2025
Eastern Ontario’s municipal leaders condemn the United States government’s decision to impose trade tariffs on Canadian products that were implemented today. These measures will have immediate consequences for businesses, workers, consumers, and people in both the United States and Canada.
As stated today by the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford, all orders of government – municipal, provincial and federal – will do everything we can to work together to protect our economy, jobs and stand up for Canadians.
The Chairs of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC), Eastern Ontario Mayors’ Caucus (EOMC) and Eastern Ontario Leadership Council (EOLC) represent nearly one quarter of Ontario’s municipalities; 113 to be exact. We are the united voice representing Eastern Ontario’s communities and over 1.1 million residents.
Each year, approximately $42.5 billion of total private sector exports from Eastern Ontario goes to other jurisdictions outside the region. This includes both commercial and industrial and represents numerous sectors ranging from agricultural exports to residential building construction exports, amongst others. The groups are actively collaborating to analyze what the exposure of the new tariffs will be for local economies. Our organizations have gathered regional data about the impact of tariffs, which can be found on the EOWC website here.
As Eastern Ontario’s municipal leaders, we are also lobbying for the need to remove inter-provincial trade barriers to allow for more intra-Canada trade. In the immediate term, we call for strategic responses including looking at municipal procurement processes to ensure local businesses in the region are being supported.
“It is a moment to double down on our efforts through defending Canadian values, building partnerships within Canada and across borders, and investing in our own businesses and assets. We stand with the Prime Minister and Premier to condemn these tariffs and will work together to continue to support and champion Eastern Ontario,” – Bonnie Clark, EOWC Chair and Warden of Peterborough County.
“Eastern Ontario is an engine of activity for the province and the nation. As the groups that represent municipalities across the region, we strongly condemn these tariffs and have been mobilizing to respond to these trade threats,” – Mayor Jeff Leal, EOLC Chair and Mayor of the City of Peterborough.
“The full and final impact of President Trump’s tariff regime will take time to assess, but the impacts of these tariffs are going to be felt by families and people at street level as they increase the cost of imports and therefore the cost of living for Canadians. This is an opportunity to not only engage in free trade in goods within our borders, but to open the door to free trade in labour inside Canada as well. Canadians stand together when times are tough and Canada is not for sale,” – John Beddows, EOMC Chair and Mayor of Gananoque.
The groups stand united with federal and provincial efforts to strengthen the alliance between Canada and the United States and highlight the key role that municipalities play as part of Team Canada.
Contact Information:
EOLC – Office of Mayor Jeff Leal: jleal@peterborough.ca
EOWC – Office of Chair Bonnie Clark: info@eowc.org
EOMC – Office of Mayor John Beddows: jbeddows@gananoque.ca
