Don Gonyea
Appearances
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
As a Detroit native and current resident of the city, I've had a front-row seat to what Donald Trump's proposed tariffs are doing to U.S. relations with Canada, not to mention his recent comments about turning it into the 51st state.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
It's Consider This from NPR. Whether they're speaking out publicly or just holding on a little tighter to their wallets, the Detroit-Windsor friendship is running as cold as the Detroit River this month.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
I wanted to pull at some of those unraveling threads, so I took NPR producer Lauren Hodges to Detroit's Riverside Park under the Ambassador Bridge, where we could look across the Detroit River to Canada not even a half mile away. This is the busiest commercial border crossing in North America. The Ambassador Bridge is right there to our right.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
a still under construction second span called the Gordie Howe International Bridge, named after a Canadian native and Detroit hockey great, Gordie Howe. And that bridge, to me, named after Howe, symbolizes the many connections between the U.S. and Canada and this narrow span that separates them. I grew up on the Detroit side, watching Canadian television, listening to Canadian radio stations.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
In fact, there may be no better real-time example of the deterioration than the long-standing bond between my hometown and its neighbor across the river, Windsor, Ontario. As the auto parts capital of Canada, Windsor's economy and identity has for decades been linked to the Motor City. According to government data, Ontario has more than 100,000 automobile jobs, not counting the spinoff jobs.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
Hockey night in Canada was a regular staple in our house. Friends on the Windsor side work in Detroit, come over to watch Detroit Tigers or Detroit Lions games in person. Detroiters eat in their restaurants. Windsorites eat in our restaurants. It's just kind of amazing the connections between the people of these two cities.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
All of this place kind of wrapped up in a single identity, some of us Americans, some of us Canadians. We then made the very short drive across the river and pulled out our passports at the border. At the checkpoint, we got the standard questions. Where are we headed? What's our business in Canada? Do we have any weapons in the car?
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
Then the customs officer quickly turned into a concierge, giving us recommendations for lunch.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
Bye-bye. Have you ever had a border crossing experience like that?
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
And that kind of hospitality isn't just on the Canadian side. In fact, there's a pretty famous bus tour run by a local Windsor business that takes Canadians into Detroit for an hours-long bar crawl.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
So, do you have your passport ready? That voice is Adriano Ciotelli, who runs Windsor Eats, an event planning business that highlights local food and activities around Windsor. But he says Detroit was always included.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
And while it's been an extremely popular piece of his business, usually selling out even in the colder months, he's also aware that the tours really help out some of those smaller bars on the Detroit side.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
But since Donald Trump's re-election and all the rhetoric that's been hurled at Canada, I think they have to become the 51st state. Windsor Eats made the tough decision to pause the beloved Detroit bar crawl.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
Ciatelli calls what the U.S. administration is doing a very personal attack.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
It's a common thread among Windsorites we interviewed, a sense of betrayal. And though the potential tariffs are the more immediate and economic threat, as Trump lays out here.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
It's Trump's repeated talk of Canada as the 51st state that really seems to rile people up the most.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
That's Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkins. We drove to his office at City Hall downtown, where we saw many flags in red and white with the iconic maple leaf hanging from apartment balconies and local businesses. Dilkens is also a big fan of the Tigers and the Lions, and just like many Windsor natives, has many fond memories of traveling into the U.S. to cheer on Detroit sports teams in person.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
And remember when Canadian hockey fans booed the U.S. national anthem at an NHL game in Montreal this month? Then, a few nights ago, U.S. fans in Boston reciprocated by booing the singing of O Canada. Mayor Dilkens is saddened by all of it. But even as he has taken steps, official ones, to make a statement.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
And the two populations have enjoyed a very friendly, symbiotic relationship since way back before my time. But consider this. As Trump threatens to annex one of the U.S. 's closest allies and hit products crossing the border with 25% tariffs, the historic harmony between these two sister cities is already starting to fray as Windsor residents deal with Trump's policies and rhetoric.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
He ended city subsidies for a transit service that helps fund an hourly commuter bus to Detroit for his constituents.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
And one more thing got sacrificed as relations started to ice over. The mayor pulled the city's sponsorship of the annual Detroit Grand Prix.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
Dilkins knows that stuff like canceling bus lines and sponsorships might seem small.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
A sign of more than just hurt feelings, he says he's even heard rhetoric accusing Canada of taking advantage of the U.S., specifically within the auto industry. And he has a passionate response to that as well. No, we built it together.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
Meanwhile, in a recent speech, the chairman of the Ford Motor Company warned that the threatened tariffs and their impact on tight supply chains... would, quote, blow a hole in the auto industry that would affect both countries. Mayor Dilkens, meanwhile, says it's more than pride, that it's all very scary.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
So as evening approaches, we head back over the river and into Detroit. Our next stop is one of the dive bars from the canceled tour. Then we get a text.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
It's the bar owner.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
She won't be there. In fact, she says, they're not open much anymore these days. This episode was produced by Lauren Hodges and edited by Megan Pratz. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigan. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Don Gagne.
Consider This from NPR
Trump's tariffs and rhetoric strain historic Windsor-Detroit friendship
From NPR, I'm Don Gagné.