Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens and former ambassadors discuss Canada-U.S. relationship
Mayor Drew Dilkens. along with former U.S. Ambassadors to Canada James Blanchard and Bruce Heyman discussed the Canada-U.S. relationship under Trump and Trudeau at the Great Lakes Economic Forum on Tuesday.
Their panel discussion was moderated by David Scanlan, the managing editor for Bloomberg News Canada. Scanlan began the event by thanking President Donald Trump for giving them "a lot to talk about."
Trump likes to "bully, a little bit"
Heyman's initial point in the discussion was that Canada should not overreact to Donald Trump, saying that the U.S. president likes to negotiate and "bully, a little bit."
Heyman added his opinion that the single best day for Trump in his first 100 as president was the visit with Justin Trudeau.
Mayor Drew Dilkens discussed cross border trade and NAFTA as being critical to Windsor. "The only certainty going forward is the uncertainty," said Dilkens.
More flexible border would benefit both
An update to NAFTA to allow more labour mobility would "really help both countries," according to Heyman. The former ambassador also said "it's wrong and it needs to be fixed," after Dilkens mentioned cancelled field trips to the United States from Windsor schools.
According to former Michigan governor and ambassador to Canada James Blanchard, Trump has a "false narrative" in thinking "the whole world has screwed" the United States. He also pointed out that Trump's proposed cuts to funding for Great Lakes Restoration Initiatives should be reversed.
