The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is putting its foot down and responding to the "unfair" and "nasty" tariffs imposed by the U.S. on goods from Canada, saying enough is enough.
On Thursday night during a special council meeting, Chatham-Kent Council passed a resolution calling on allies, such as the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, to support it. The tariff resolution included reviewing and adopting best practices of other municipalities, looking at municipal supply chains to determine what purchases and products are impacted by tariffs, looking at legal options to adjust U.S. contracts and reduce municipal exposure to tariffs, examining the negative impact tariffs will have on Chatham-Kent, assisting CK businesses weather the pending hardship through government stimulus programs, and collaboration that includes cross-border initiatives.
The resolution was approved unanimously by a vote of 14-0 and is soliciting feedback from other municipalities.
CK Mayor Darrin Canniff said the resolution is designed to put pressure on the American public so they pressure their own government representatives and convince them that this trade war is unfair and will hurt everyone involved.
"We need to put pressure on the average American citizen to make it uncomfortable. So, they're calling their representatives and saying tariffs aren't the right thing," said Canniff.
The mayor also told council that the municipality will review U.S. purchases and will end U.S. contracts if it's legal to do so in favour of buying Canadian.
CK Chief Financial Officer Gord Quinton said the CK response is not anti-American, but rather anti-tariffs, adding the municipality expects the U.S. to hold up its end of the bargain with the current free trade agreement between Canada, U.S., and Mexico (CUSMA). The current CUSMA agreement is up for renegotiation next year.
Quinton reported the municipality had 55 U.S. purchases worth $1.7 million last year and is in line to buy $6 million worth of fire trucks and other truck components this year. Quinton added the American purchases are for specialized equipment and services not available in Canada.
He said the evolving and shifting tariff decisions coming from south of the border are making concrete or lasting plans nearly impossible for the municipality, adding that the full impact of the tariffs is currently unknown. Quinton noted the tariffs could hit worse than COVID-19 did during the pandemic.
Quinton hopes no local company is making hasty decisions right now to shutdown or relocate so early in this tariff game. He said there will be financial support available to those who need it during this stressful time through provincial and federal employment and stimulus programs when they are ready to roll out.
Mayor Canniff reminded residents that municipal financial support is limited.
"I believe we've captured a lot of what we can do. We're fairly limited. We don't have the resources that the provincial and federal governments do, as far as coming to help businesses and individuals that are impacted financially," the mayor noted.
CK Director of Economic Development Services Stuart McFadden told councillors the unknown is stressing out people and promised to advocate for CK businesses because the tariffs will be "painful". McFadden said a list to support local businesses and services is being developed, adding there's also a dedicated tariff web page on the Economic Development web site that will be constantly updated.
Councillors Alysson Storey and John Wright told council that they received calls from several farmers and agri-businesses recently telling them that they don't know if they can hang on for too long after already paying tens of thousands of dollars in tariffs to ship their products across the border. Mayor Canniff said that's concerning because tariffs on Canadian goods are expected to be paid by U.S. businesses.
CK Director of Legal Services David Taylor said there's still a lot of work to do to tailor an approach.
The municipality is urging the public to buy local, but Taylor warns consumers to be careful and not hurt other free trade economies, such as the European Union.
Local MP Dave Epp and MPPs Steve Pinsonneault and Trevor Jones were also at the meeting.