Point Roberts in Washington State attributes about 90 per cent of its economic activity to Canada.Jennifer Gauthier/The Globe and Mail
During a typical weekend rush, a line-up of patrons snakes out the doors of the Saltwater Cafe in Point Roberts, Wash., spilling onto the wooden deck as they wait for breakfast or lunch. Staff sometimes put speakers outside to entertain the hungry crowd, most of whom are Canadians who have made the short drive across the border to load up on gas and groceries.
This past Sunday, the café saw only a slow trickle of diners. The day before was similar. Staff began mopping the floors at 1:30 p.m., mulling an early closing.
“I’m usually very, very busy here, but this is the lunch rush now,” owner Tamra Hansen said in an interview. The dual citizen wears a hat from the B.C. rock band 54-40, with a red maple leaf emblazoned in the centre. “Sometimes you can blame it on the weather, right? But this has been a sunny week, and I’m down almost 40 per cent.”
Business in the tiny pene-exclave south of Vancouver has been anything but typical since U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to impose hefty tariffs on Canadian imports, putting a chill on neighbourly relations. Just 13 square kilometres and separated from the rest of Washington State by a 40-kilometre drive across two international border crossings, Point Roberts attributes about 90 per cent of its economic activity to Canada. About half of residents are dual citizens.
On top of inflationary costs, a weak Canadian dollar and the lasting effects of pandemic-related closings, locals say the threat of tariffs and resulting pledges by Canadians to shop local have had an immediate and significant impact.
“It really did just cut off like that,” Ms. Hansen said, clapping her hands together.
She is trying to remain optimistic, holding out hope that spring break will bring back the cottage crowd of better years. But February proved to be one of her least profitable months on record, and she worries about the 14 people she employs across two restaurants.
Ali Hayton has owned the International Marketplace, Point Roberts’s only grocery store, since 1998. She said that at the height of summer during a good year, roughly 8,000 customers would come through each week, with about 6,000 of them being Canadians. The past few summers have brought closer to 4,000 customers a week, and the last month, about 2,000.
Tamra Hansen, owner of the Saltwater Cafe in Point Roberts, says she's 'down almost 40 per cent' this past week as Canadians make good on their pledge to shop local.Jennifer Gauthier/The Globe and Mail
Both women say business never fully recovered from the pandemic, and worry that the looming duties could be a death knell. Ms. Hayton said it was hard to accept politicians such as B.C. Premier David Eby advising Canadians not to shop American.
“Obviously, they’ve never owned a private business, because if they did, they would understand how devastating that is to a small-business owner whose livelihood and retirement plans kind of depend on that,” she said. “I do think it’s good that there’s a sense of Canadian pride, and ‘Buy Canadian’ – we do that in America – but there are things that Canadians want in America that they should get without fear of people shaming them.”
Brian Calder, who was born in Vancouver and served as a city councillor there from 1968 to 1972, spent childhood summers in Point Roberts, where his paternal grandmother settled in 1895. Also a dual citizen, he has now lived on the peninsula for about 35 years and advocates for the community.
At 83, Mr. Calder has seen firsthand what he describes as the insidious economic decline of Point Roberts. On a drive through the community with a Globe and Mail reporter, he points to locations where long-shuttered businesses once stood: the skating rink, Clark’s candy store, the legendary Breakers tavern that seemed to always be over capacity.
He estimates that around 30 businesses have closed in the past 25 years. With the enduring effects of the pandemic – “economic long COVID,” he calls it – and now the threat of tariffs, he worries about the future of Point Roberts. Tariffs on construction materials alone would be devastating for the region, where he estimates that 60 per cent of local employment is related to land and development.
“To me, it’s an ego-driven, selfish President who has caused such a mess towards the goodwill and shared brotherhood between Americans and Canadians over the past 200 years,” he said.
He cites the inscriptions on the Peace Arch monument that straddles the border: Children of a common mother, brethren dwelling together in unity, may these gates never be closed.
“Trump should be made to come to the Peace Arch and have someone read these to him,” he said.
Ali Hayton, owner of the Point Roberts International Marketplace, says she was alarmed by B.C. Premier David Eby advising Canadians to not shop American: 'There are things that Canadians want in America that they should get without fear of people shaming them.'Jennifer Gauthier/The Globe and Mail
In late January, Mr. Calder, who is also past president of the Point Roberts Chamber of Commerce, wrote to Mr. Eby appealing for an exemption from retaliatory tariffs for the community on humanitarian grounds. Its residents are in a uniquely vulnerable situation as their potable water and domestic electricity come solely from Canada, he wrote, and any disruption in these essential services would negatively affect their health and safety.
Mr. Calder said Sunday that he had not heard back from the Premier. Asked by The Globe whether Mr. Eby had received his letter and if the province would be amenable to such a request, a spokesperson said Monday that the Premier’s office will have more to say on potential retaliatory tariffs if and when the U.S. tariffs take effect.
In the meantime, Mr. Calder has been collecting signatures for two separate petitions asking both the Canadian and U.S. governments for a carve-out from tariffs. He has also been circulating campaign-style bumper stickers that read, “Point Roberts, Wa., supports Canada!” for locals to show solidarity.
Ailish Wallace, a Canadian who lives in Point Roberts and manages the Saltwater Cafe, said she was harassed numerous times while running errands in B.C. during the pandemic and that she’s seeing that same hostility bubble up again. While she was shopping in Tsawwassen a couple of weeks ago, she said, a stranger looked her up and down and asked why she had a Washington State licence plate.
“I said, ‘Because I’m married to an American,’ ” she said. “And he goes, ‘It’s time to file for divorce.’ A lot of people I’ve talked to lately have been getting dirty looks, comments, the ‘Go back to America.’ ”
As she was speaking, Point Roberts resident Dave Armstrong entered the café, declaring that Canadians flipped him the bird and tried to run him off the road. He purchased three bumper stickers, and there was chatter among staff about buying some maple-leaf decals from a hardware store the next time they cross the border.