FORT FRANCES — The mayor of Fort Frances is part of an alliance he says is aimed at standing up for the rights of Canadian border towns as the United States government continues to threaten heavy tariffs against the country.
As part of his regular update to council made at Monday night’s regular meeting, Fort Frances Mayor Andrew Hallikas announced that he had been invited to join forces with other mayors of Canadian border towns as part of the the Border Mayors Alliance.
The aliance, headed by Windsor, Ont., mayor Drew Dilkens, has been formed as a united front in response to threats of 25 percent tariffs U.S. president Donald Trump has been promising to implement on all goods imported from Canada into the country. According to a CBC News story about the alliance, Dilkens said the tariffs will “affect joint cross-border ventures, and ripple through border communities and be felt on ‘every level.’”
Hallikas noted that he accepted the alliance’s invitation, and while he was unable to attend their first meeting due to being on the road to the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) meeting, he said the alliance has kept him informed.
“Now it’s really come to the forefront with the President of the United States issuing all sorts of threats, I guess you could say, against Canada and threatening tariffs, among other things,” Hallikas said.
“It started with the mayor of Windsor for mayors of border communities to work together, and this is border communities right across Canada, not just in Ontario. So I was invited to join, and I did join. They had their first meeting, unfortunately it was a virtual meeting while we were traveling to Toronto, but I did email and contact them to say that I was unavailable for that meeting, but I definitely wanted to be part of that, and I have been kept in the loop. We’ve issued our first press release... and there’ll be more comments from this coalition of border mayors, where we’ll be speaking with one voice on border issues.”
In the CBC story, Dilkens said the alliance has begun to identify alternative supply chains to “mitigate immediate disruptions” when the tariffs come into effect, and are “working together to develop contingency strategies,” calling upon federal and provincial politicians, industry leaders and “our American neighbours” to join them in their “crucial moment for unity.”
Speaking on other international issues being experienced in the region, Hallikas also spoke on the ongoing allegations surrounding U.S. fishing guides exploiting systems to benefit their clients at the expense of Canadian tourism and industry. Hallikas noted that while he has continued to speak with Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP Marcus Powlowski on the issue, it has also begun to gain more traction with other northwestern Ontario municipalities.
“The issue with American fishing guides bringing parties of Americans staying at American resorts into Canadian
waters, not touching land, using Canadian resources, and not contributing in any way to the Canadian economy, is still alive,” Hallikas said.
“It’s died down a bit during the winter, but I did meet with a local fishing guide, and we spoke at length about this issue. I’ve been in contact with our MP Marcus Powlowski on this issue. He is still working on it, and I wanted to mention that I will be attending a meeting of stakeholders being held in Sioux Narrows. So it’s not just us anymore, Kenora has gotten involved, Sioux Narrows has gotten involved.”
Hallikas also seemed to suggest the issue could be one the new Border Mayors Alliance could speak on in the future, as the international nature of the dispute could impact other municipalities that share waterways with the United States.
Finally, the mayor provided an update on the town’s delegation to the ROMA conference held in Toronto from January 19, to January 21, 2025. Hallikas shared that he, councillor John McTaggart and Town of Fort Frances CAO Marcel Michaels were able to meet with representatives from the Ministries of Health, Infrastructure, Municipal Affairs and Housing, and the Solicitor General’s office during the conference, where he felt their voices were heard.
“It was an excellent conference,” the mayor said.
“I do want to thank councillor McTaggart and our CAO, they were instrumental in those meetings, in getting our point across. All spoke very, very well on the issues that we raised, and we were heard. We had four very, very good meetings. In fact, one of them, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, has already reached out to our CAO for a follow up discussion.”
The Town’s Facebook shared a post made on January 21, 2025, by Paul Calandra, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, where the minister noted he and his team had an “informative talk” with Fort Frances’ representatives regarding “how to make sure they can get their shovel-ready projects off the ground so that their community has the homes they need.”
Of note at ROMA, Hallikas shared that the meeting with the Solicitor General’s office was of particular import, given the unexpected bump in cost to the town’s policing budget. While the government stepped in to offer funding in a one-time relief effort, the mayor has been vocal about how the problem has not been solved for next year, and thus seeking change in how the province funds police in Ontario for small and rural communities going forward. Hallikas noted the conversation the town had with the delegation from the Solicitor General’s office was “excellent.”
“Councillor McTaggart, with his background as the chair of the previous Police Services Board and the new OPP detachment board was instrumental in getting some very, very good points across,” Hallikas said.
“One thing that I was very pleased about is that they did mention that they’re going to be reviewing the funding formula in the fall. So hopefully we’ll see some relief there, because we’re certainly not the only municipality that’s concerned with police funding.”
Fort Frances Times / Local Journalism Initiative
