Gillingham counts on help from U.S. mayors when it comes to ending tariffs

Mayor Scott Gillingham said he hopes American mayors can help push for the end of tariffs in the trade war with the U.S.

A few American mayors are attending a Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Ottawa this week, which Winnipeg’s mayor deems a prime opportunity to help ensure the economic fallout from tariffs is understood on both sides of the border.

“I’m confident that the ongoing advocacy by mayors with their state and provincial and federal representatives, respectively, will continue on. We, as mayors, will keep talking to other levels of government to help them understand… the detrimental impacts of tariffs on our cities. It hurts jobs and paycheques,” said Gillingham.

A news release notes mayors in attendance include Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Rochester Hills, Mich. Mayor Bryan Barnett and Tom Cochran, chief executive officer of the United States Conference of Mayors.

Gillingham said he’s urging his counterparts from south of the border to push federal leaders, and, specifically, U.S. President Donald Trump, to end the recently added tariffs once and for all.

“Life is going to be more expensive for a lot of Americans because of tariffs,” he said.

Gillingham said mayors from both countries are up against many similar challenges, including housing shortages and infrastructure deficits, and share a need to protect their local economies.

He noted the United States Conference of Mayors released a statement calling for tariffs to end in April, after mayors from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico gathered in Washington, D.C.

“When tariffs go up, prices go up and businesses stop growing, which puts more pressure on the cost of living for our residents. America’s mayors are calling for trade policy that protects our businesses, workers and families. We urge the president to reverse course and end this global trade war,” the statement said.

Gillingham said tariffs will continue to be a key topic of discussion at the Ottawa conference, which he hopes will lead to more demands for change.

“That solidarity, that unity in the face of these challenges, is important because cities and residents on both sides of the border are being impacted negatively by tariffs. It hurts jobs and economic investment on both sides of the border,” he said.

On Thursday, the Big City Mayors’ Caucus, which is part of FCM, also called for a “national prosperity partnership” to co-ordinate the work of different levels of Canadian government on housing, infrastructure and economic growth.

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Gillingham said he’ll continue to push for a growth funding model from senior governments as part of that effort.

“A growth-oriented model is what we’d like to see. We have the need to build 21st century cities with a 19th century funding model. It’s outdated, it relies on property taxes, government grants and user fees. And, (with) that model, cities often will be struggling for the revenues necessary to build the infrastructure required to meet our growing populations,” said Gillingham.

He has longed pushed for Winnipeg to get some form of growth revenue from senior governments, such as a dedicated share of provincial sales tax revenue.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.