Pete Hoeskstra says Donald Trump thinks Canadians are mean and nasty for boycotting American booze and travel. But for the first time in my lifetime, the federal and provincial leaders seem committed to work together in securing long-term solutions for Canada. If we can exert monetary influence simply by using our won purchasing power, there is nothing mean or nasty about that.
By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on July 28, 2025.
OTTAWA—Canadians are mean, nasty people, according to the new American ambassador to Canada.
Why does he say we are nasty? Because we insist on exercising what little personal power we have to send a message to the government of Donald Trump.
If we can exert monetary influence simply by using our won purchasing power, there is nothing mean or nasty about that.
The fact the American liquor purchases to Canada are down by 66 per cent is a result of individual decisions by Canadian consumers to purchase from countries that support us, not those that punish us.
According to a June report by Statistics Canada, Canadian travel to the United States was down in May by 38.1 per cent compared to a year earlier.
British Columbia Premier David Eby countered the ambassadorial attack last week, saying that the efforts made by individual Canadians are having an effect.
“If you’re a mean and nasty Canadian for standing up for our sovereignty and our jobs, well, I think most Canadians would be proud to be considered mean and nasty.”
American ambassador Pete Hoekstra was speaking to a group of Americans gathered at the Pacific Northwest Economic Summit. He told them President Trump shared the view of Canadians being nasty for not stocking American alcohol and refusing to travel to the states.
The ambassador then joked that he had no trouble getting personal alcohol into Canada as long as his car was not checked at the border.
Normally, an ambassador is supposed to be someone who smooths differences between his or her home country and his or her ambassadorial posting. The ambassador isn’t usually the one tossing insults about Canadians.
But these are not ordinary times and Hoeskstra is no ordinary ambassador.
As the country edges closer to a date on the imposition of more tariffs from the United States, we can certainly not count on the American ambassador to be promoting a reconciliation with Canadians. Instead, he is making things worse, and Canadians will continue to dig in with their own personal boycott of American goods and travel.
The prime minister and premiers are working together to soften the deadline and broaden the benefits of the outcome. Prime Minister Mark Carney has had to back down from his self-imposed aggressive time frame for completion of the tariff negotiations.
He is learning quickly that sometimes a political compromise is the only solution. Elbows up can be a good hockey metaphor. But in politics, elbows in may sometimes be required.
And given the mixed messages emanating from Washington, the Canadian government will have to count on the continued support of individual Canadians to put pressure on the United States.
We know the citizen boycott is working because multiple governors from American states are reaching out to try and convince us to change our minds.
Their argument is that they are not the enemy. And they are right. But in the absence of any logical negotiation by the Trump team, Canadians have no choice but to continue with our personal elbows up.
That means refusing to allow American alcohol to be sold in Canadian liquor outlets and continuing to travel anywhere in Canada or elsewhere in the world. But not America.
Carney’s decision to reach out to other jurisdictions, including Europe and Mexico, with agreements that may simply bypass the United States is definitely the way to go.
And businesses looking for opportunities to repurpose their supply chains or secure raw materials from new markets must continue doing so.
But if Canadian individual decisions to stop buying American piqued the ire of the White House, we know that now is not the time to stop.
Will we succeed in negotiating the tariff agreement with the United States that will meet our needs? Only time will tell.
The good news is that for the first time in my lifetime, the federal and provincial leaders seem committed to work together in securing long-term solutions.
The country is also working quickly to break down trade barriers between provinces, which will generate economic growth and more inter-provincial commerce.
We do not have the geopolitical heft of our neighbours to the south. But if we stick together, our efforts can shake things up in Washington.
In the past, Canada was always seen as the friendly neighbour to the North. The most prominent word in our vocabulary was sorry.
The attack on our country by President Trump has changed all that. If Trump thinks that we are mean and nasty now, he ain’t seen nothing yet.
Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.
