What to know
- United States President Trump has suggested that Canada pay for polluting America’s air with wildfire smoke.
- Torontonians react to Trump’s comments, disappointed at his threats as Canadians have helped Americans battle their own wildfires.
- Early Monday evening, Trump made good on his threats, charging Canada a 50 per cent tariff on a wide selection of goods, including those that were previously exempt under CUSMA.
President Donald Trump has suggested Canada should compensate the United States over wildfire smoke drifting across the border, comments that have sparked criticism from some Toronto residents.
Over the last week, Northwestern Ontario has been battling raging wildfires that have left residents scrambling to evacuate to safety. As of Sunday night, over 146 wildfires are still actively burning in the region.
But Trump — and a slew of Republican lawmakers — are not happy that the wildfire smoke has drifted across the border to states close to the Great Lakes. The travelling smoke has triggered air quality warnings states including Michigan, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania.
After the FIFA World Cup Finals on Sunday, Trump said, “I told him, I mean, ‘You got to stop these fires from coming in and, you know, poisoning our air. Our air has been poisoned,’” at an air base in Maryland.
“If we can help them, we’ll help them. But maybe they should pay some damages or something, or we should do some tariffs. But it was terrible. I mean you had businesses closing in particular Michigan,” Trump added.
Wildfire smoke can travel hundreds or even thousands of kilometres depending on weather conditions and wind patterns.
Early Monday evening, he made good on the threat, levying a hefty 50 per cent tariff on a wide selection of Canadian exports, including goods that were previously exempt under the Canada United States Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). The new tariffs take effect in 30 days.
Torontonians react
Now Toronto took to the streets to see how Torontonians felt about Trump’s threats to fine Canada for the wildfire smoke.
Sarah B said she is disappointed that Trump would threaten to charge Canadians instead of offering firefighters to help combat the blazes.
“As Canadians, we really stepped up when the wildfires were taking over California, and regardless of the border, we really showed up to care for our neighbours, so it’s really disappointing to now hear when we’re having an issue,” she explained.
“Instead of providing services and offering to help us, they’re actually wanting to threaten to charge us, and I don’t think that that’s fair at all. But once again, it’s Trump, so I’m really not surprised by that. I’m not a big fan of Doug [Ford], but the way he showed up for us is admirable, so I appreciate him stepping in to kind of put his foot down.”
Sarah is referring to Premier Doug Ford’s response to Trump’s aggressive comments, saying, “With all the assets the U.S. has, he’s sitting there complaining. Why don’t you send up some water bombers? Why don’t you start helping us, like we would help you in a heartbeat?”
Joe F agrees, and said it seems foolish for adults to even be having this “conversation.”
“It’s idiocracy, first and foremost,” he said. “It’s not really a conversation we should be having as adults. It just seems kind of foolish.”
“It’s just a natural disaster, and that’s kind of the best way to describe it. It’s no one’s fault. Obviously, it could be handled better and worse in some instances, but they’re fires, and it’s happening 10,000 feet up in the air. It’s not really something that we can control.”
Finally, Raven B exclaimed that it’s disgusting that Trump would even have an issue with the wildfires, stating, “we were happy to help and assist where we could, and I just find it sad that he wants to flip the script.”
“As Canadians, we’ve always been happy to help wherever we can. So for him to be carrying on like this is not really a big surprise given his character. It’s gross.”
