Prime Minister Mark Carney is urging Canadians to vacation at home and “send a message” amid the trade war with the United States, weeks after taking his own summer holiday in Italy.Carney made the appeal in a 15-minute YouTube video following the collapse of Canada-U.S. trade negotiations and the introduction of retaliatory Canadian tariffs ranging from 15% to 50% on smartphones, kitchen appliances and other American products.“By now you’ve likely heard something about the collapse of our trade talks with the United States,” said Carney.Blacklock's Reporter said the prime minister acknowledged the latest tariffs would come with a cost.“It won’t be easy and I won’t pretend otherwise,” he said.Carney said Canadians can play a significant role in the trade dispute by buying domestic products and choosing Canadian destinations for their vacations.“The most powerful actions have come from you: buying Canadian, and traveling in Canada, decisions taken at the kitchen table, not the boardroom table,” he said.“Every time we choose to buy Canadian and travel in Canada we’re sending a message.”Carney compared the country's response to a hockey team, saying every Canadian has a role to play.“Nobody in this country is in the stands. Forty million of us are on the ice, and I thank you for that,” he said.“That same spirit is behind making Canada strong for all, standing up for you for as long as it takes.”Carney did not mention his own August vacation in Tuscany, Italy.The Prime Minister's Office has declined to provide details about where Carney stayed or why he chose Italy for his summer vacation. Political aides also declined to comment on the apparent contrast between Carney's holiday and his call for Canadians to travel domestically..Canadian travel to the United States has already dropped sharply since the beginning of the continental trade dispute in 2025.Statistics Canada reported July 22 that Canadian travel patterns to the U.S. changed dramatically beginning early last year.“Beginning in early 2025, Canadian resident return border crossings by automobile contrasted sharply while returns by air declined throughout the year,” StatsCan said in its report Canadian-Resident Travel To The United States: A Year In Review.Canadian visits to the U.S. fell 25% last year, which Statistics Canada described as “the deepest and most sustained” decline in U.S. border crossings since records began in 1972.The agency did not determine how much of the decline resulted from a political boycott, higher fuel costs or the Canadian dollar trading at approximately US72¢.The movement to avoid American products and travel gained momentum after the United States announced 25% tariffs on Jan. 20, 2025.Then-prime minister Justin Trudeau responded by urging Canadians to show solidarity and prepare for economic hardship.“From the beaches of Normandy to the mountains of the Korean peninsula, from the fields of Flanders to the streets of Kandahar, we have fought and died,” Trudeau said at the time.“Show solidarity. Many of us will be affected by all of this. We will experience difficult times. I ask you to be there for each other.”
