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While politicians throw barbs at each other from the U.S. and Canadian capitals, two communities are literally stuck in the middle of the on-again-off-again tariffs war.
Regardless, neither leaders of the border towns expect their relationship to break down.
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“We just work together as a community,” said mayor of Portal, North Dakota, Lisa Smith. “It doesn’t matter that there’s a border between us.”
About 40 kilometres southeast of Estevan, the village of North Portal sits in Saskatchewan and Portal is in North Dakota, only split by the Canada-U.S. border.
The communities each have mayors but share many services including an international fire department and golf course.
“Portal-North Portal, is a pretty strong community,” Smith said. “We share everything … so no, (the tariff situation is) not going to affect us.”
They also share natural gas — Portal residents and businesses are SaskEnergy customers — but Smith said they could be hit with the U.S. tariffs targeting Canadian energy, something she said would be difficult.
Ten-per-cent tariffs on Canadian oil and gas were briefly in effect, but prices didn’t change before they were again paused by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The two communities together have a population of around 140 people, with most of them living in the U.S.
Smith said many Americans in the town often cross the border into Canada to get to the nearest grocery store in Estevan, while Amy Armstrong, mayor of North Portal, said many Canadians need to head south to get to the closest gas station and restaurant.
“It hasn’t strained our relationship,” Armstrong said. “The two communities share so many services together.”
Both mayors agreed tariffs wouldn’t bring any benefit to anyone.
“I’m hoping this all ends very quickly,” Armstrong said. “But for right now, I’m not thinking about it and not letting it control what’s happening in our communities, and we all just function together.”
Golf course looking to avoid the rough
Despite a large push from Canadians to boycott travelling to the U.S., both mayors are hoping that tourists will continue to visit the shared international golf course.
The Gateway Cities Golf Club is located on the Canada-U.S. border, and gives golfers the opportunity to play in both countries during a round.
“Going forward, I hope it doesn’t affect anything with the clubhouse,” Armstrong said.
Smith said the golf course has already experienced a challenging few years after having to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic, causing job losses on both sides of the border.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen if this stuff (tariffs) sticks,” she said.
Joe Yurkowski, a member on the golf club’s board of directors, said he was less concerned about tourist losses. Instead, he was more worried about the border shutting down and limiting access to the entrance of the clubhouse on the U.S. side.
“With President Trump, and now all the security concerns, I think it’s actually a little bit higher concern right now,” he said.
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