On January 6, 2025, Regional Councillors Rowena Santos and Chris Leahy are pairing up to organize a municipal response to fight the proposed tariffs by President Elect Donald Trump, who is scheduled to be sworn in on January 20, 2024.
Santos, a two-term councillor from the City of Brampton, and Leahy, a three-term regional councillor from the Town of Whitby, have said it’s time for municipal leaders to join the fight as part of the Team Canada effort.
“We’re unveiling an ad campaign that will target all the high-profile members of the US government when they descend on Washington DC for the inauguration. Hundreds of thousands of other people will also be on hand for the swearing-in ceremonies. They will get ads that land on their devices. Technology allows us to serve ads to everyone who will be in D.C. on Monday, January 20th,” said Santos and Leahy.
Santos explained the motives for the ad campaign, “Thousands of Brampton residents depend on trade for their livelihood. The Stellantis automotive plant in Brampton is being retooled to manufacture Chrysler’s Jeep Cherokee. I also have hundreds of constituents who work in logistics. The CN intermodal station in Brampton is where American-made products land in Canada. From there, they are shipped to factories and distribution centres across the GTA. On the other hand, Canadian products start their journey there to be shipped to the US and across Canada. Slowing trade kills jobs and reduces income for my residents.”
Councillor Leahy added, “We have a GM plant and two nuclear power stations in Durham Region. When Trump talks about tariffs on cars and car parts, he’s talking about killing jobs in Durham Region. In response, when Ontario Premier Doug Ford talks about cutting electricity sales to New York and Michigan, he means the energy being produced at the Pickering and Darlington Nuclear power plants in Durham Region.”
Santos was adamant, “I am not going to stand by and watch those jobs go up in smoke because the Trump administration doesn’t fully grasp how interdependent we are economically. My city and other cities throughout the US depend on each other, and we need a municipal response to this threat.”
Leahy further pressed the point, “In Durham Region, we are the nuclear energy generating centre of North America. Premier Doug Ford’s threats to cut off energy to New Yorkers will mean higher energy bills and possibly brownouts and blackouts for them. Reduced production and distribution from Durham Region will hurt Detroiters and New Yorkers who need the energy generated by our people.”
One ad has Councillor Santos standing in front of the CN intermodal station in Brampton. While the other features Councillor Leahy in front of the gates at Pickering nuclear facility. Both ads call on residents in the US to consider the consequences of a trade war started by Trump. Leahy and Santos are inviting other municipal leaders from across Canada to do their part. “Cities are the economic engine of most states and provinces. We need to deliver a municipal message to Donald Trump; don’t do it.”
As part of their campaign, Santos and Leahy will be recruiting other municipal leaders across Canada to join them in talking to their municipal counterparts in the US. Cities are the lifeblood of our national economy. Canadian civic leaders have to tell American civic leaders to tell President Trump he’s on the wrong track.
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