U.S. border city residents put their 'Elbows Up' for Canada amid trade war

Hundreds of people gathered in Ogdensburg, N.Y., at the U.S-Canada border over the Fourth of July weekend, singing songs and chanting in support of the friendship between the two nations currently at odds over questions of trade and sovereignty.

The trade war, which has seen the imposition of 25 per cent tariffs on various Canadian goods and threats by President  Donald Trump to make Canada the 51st state, has led many Canadians to boycott travel to the states.

It's a decision that's been strongly felt in border communities like Ogdensburg, where more than 200 people gathered Saturday for a rally at city hall.

Attendees chanted "Elbows up!" and heard speeches from organizers and locals in the wider North Country region.

They then moved north to the St. Lawrence River, where people waved across the border to folks in Prescott, Ont., before singing Bridge Over Troubled Water and O Canada. 

Ginger Storey-Welch, the leader of a civic engagement group in the North Country and one of the rally's organizers, said that cross-border traffic across the Ogdensburg–Prescott International Bridge is down 30 per cent and it's harming her community.

"I really value the relationship that our two nations have had for decades and decades. And it's really breaking my heart to see the tensions between our nations. It's just, it's not right," Storey-Welch said. 

Other rallies were taking place along the U.S.-Canada border, from Maine all the way to Alaska, she added.

"Our relationship is critical to the local economy," said Blake Gendebien, a local dairy farmer who spoke at the rally and whose eyes are set on winning political office in Washington, D.C.

"The Canadian side of the river has been very, very important to me, to my family."

Gendebien called the event a tribute to Canada and its longstanding relationship with the U.S.

The decline in Canadian tourists is noticeable, he said, pointing out that it's impacting small and large businesses in the North Country region.

Gendebien said he plans to run in the congressional midterms next year as the Democrats' representative for New York's 21st congressional district.

"When we win this thing, it's going to go back to normal and our relationship is going to be great again," Gendebien said.

'Canada is a sovereign nation'

Although organizers said the rally was non-political, some attendees expressed strong grievances with President Donald Trump.

Kathryn Craft, an author from Pennsylvania who has a summer place in St. Lawrence County, said she was "embarrassed" by Trump's wishes to annex Canada.

"This is not how democracy works. And he does not have the right to just trump, tramp, stamp over all of our laws," Craft said.

"Canada is a sovereign nation. Its inhabitants are my friends, and I want to show them that most rational human beings in the United States are on their side."

Trump previously unveiled what he called "reciprocal tariffs" on roughly 90 countries in April, but later paused them for 90 days to negotiate new deals.

The 90-day freeze ends July 9 and so far the U.S. has only reached agreements with Britain and Vietnam.

For Canada, which was not included in the 90-day pause, an end to tariffs could be looming as both Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney have agreed to strike a trade deal by July 21.

It'll be music to Storey-Welch's ears, who hopes the rallies accomplish one thing.

"Friendship," she said.