Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.
Well, earlier this week, I was pleased to meet with the Honorable Bernadette Jordan, Consul General of Canada in Boston, at an event in Portland that was focused on Maine's relationship with nations in the Arctic Circle, which certainly includes Canada. Maine deeply values our partnership with Canada, and I told Consul General Jordan that I want to make sure our historic friendship and deeply intertwined economies last for generations to come. It's not just our economies – we are connected so deeply by mutual economic advantages and on centuries-old familial, cuisine, language, and cultural bonds that far supersede politics.
Canada is our closest and most important trading partner. We share a 611-mile long border with Quebec and New Brunswick. Last year alone, we traded more than $6 billion worth of goods and materials between our countries, nearly $5 billion of which came from Canada into Maine. But recently, I met with some small businesses who told me that the uncertainty around the president's roller coaster tariffs is making them question their future. These businesses in Maine told me that the hostile rhetoric from the president is making our Canadian neighbors feel unwelcome in the United States in general, and hesitant about visiting the State of Maine.
Last year, nearly 800,000 people, or about 5% of our visitors, were from Canada, spending nearly half a billion dollars here. But this year, from February to April alone, 166,000 fewer Canadians traveled by land to Maine. That's 26% less than the same period last year, a big drop in visitors. So we're doing what we can to market Maine as a destination for Canadian travelers.
So, for example, this coming Monday, along with other Northeastern governors, I'll be meeting with Canadian premiers in Boston. I was proud to work with Governor Healey of Massachusetts to organize this summit to reaffirm the strong cross-border relationship between our region and the Canadian provinces. I look forward to that meeting.
And in the meantime, I had the Department of Transportation place new signs at all our border crossings with Canada and near popular destinations - signs that welcome Canadian travelers to our state. The signs are bilingual. They say “Bienvenue Canadien” or “Welcome Canadians”, and we're providing signs to many businesses all up and down the state to put in their windows to also make sure Canadians feel welcome there.
Look, I know signs alone can't fix this economic uncertainty, but it can convey to our neighbors that they are welcome here and we do value their presence in our state. We're not hostile towards our Canadian friends and government and neighbors.
We may have seen a decline in Canadian tourism so far this year, but we can market Maine as a premier destination for visitors on both sides of the border. I'm planning to take my own road trip into Canada soon, and I hope you'll consider doing that as well with your family.
Let's make sure they know we're still friends.
This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.